Serena POV

I should have seen it coming. The kiss, I mean. Isn't there supposed to be some sort of sign that lets you know that a guy is going to plant a big wet one on you? Or in my unique case, a frisson inducing gentle one?

You'd think that with all the romance books I practically devour that I would know all of the telltale 'prelude to a kiss' signs off by heart.

Increased eye contact. Rapid breathing. Subtle licking of lips.

Ash must have missed the memo because I didn't even have a second to realise that a kiss was his intention. If he'd just tried to hug me again, I would have been prepared, or at least not surprised, but a kiss... I was lost.

I felt as though time had suddenly stopped as his dark raven hair suddenly brushed against my forehead like a silky curtain, tickling my eyelashes. His amazingly soft, slightly parted lips moved oh so slowly and gently against mine as our breath intermingled.

For a second I was frozen, too shocked to move, too shocked to know what to do.

But I knew one thing for sure- if neither of us put a stop to this right now, I was gonna have to kiss him back. Or even do more.

There are some things I can resist. Ash Ketchum's lips on mine- not one of those things.

Mustering up all my willpower as my paralysis broke and delayed reaction finally kicked in, I quickly placed my hands on his hard chest and backed away from Ash, slamming my back into the wall as I stared at him, my mouth wide with shock. Unfortunately, immediately after doing so, I felt mournful about the decision.

I realised that the kiss had actually felt rather nice, if I hadn't stopped to think about who it had been attached to those soft lips.

And if I hadn't stopped to remember where we were, and what might happen if Ash and I got caught red handed by Miette, Misty, or Ash's father.

Now that's something I want to avoid.

Maybe in another life I might have been able to kiss Ash back and not have to worry about the implicit repercussions, but that was neither here nor there. What mattered right now was the fact that nobody had seen the results of our little make out session.

Ash looked about as stunned as I felt, which was saying something since I felt like I'd been hit between the eyes with a sledge hammer.

He ran a shaky hand through his raven hair as he cleared his throat. "Sere, ****- I didn't mean to do that," he stammered, taking a hesitant step towards me then just standing there, his hands in his pockets.

I stared at him dumbly, resisting the urge to put my hand up to my lips. Bad idea when you've just been kissed. That would just the fact that I was still mightily shook up over the kiss really obvious to Ash, and I surely didn't want that. Not at all. Unfortunately, Ash chose that moment to lick his lips and I almost groaned as the hyper voice in my head started in.

What I really want to do is grab Ash and kiss him senseless.

Swallowing hard, I tried to banish the unhelpful thoughts from my mind. No, you don't. Focus, Serena! Yeah, Serena, focus on his nice, soft lips.

My imagination and the little voice in my head that never shut up, wasn't helping me one bit as I argued with myself. As I am prone to doing. No! He's your friend, That doesn't explain why-

"You kissed me," I breathed, sounding like all the wind had been knocked out of me. Which, in a way, was kinda what had happened.

What I had meant to say in response to Ash's apology was a standard 'It's okay.'

But apparently it wasn't okay; otherwise I would never have opened my mouth and posed that awkward question. Ash had kissed me. And I guess my subconscious wanted to find out why.When it comes to stating the obvious, Serena, you're a natural.

Ash was standing directly under a light, I could totally tell he was blushing as he opened his mouth then closed it again, looking suitably flustered. He definitely hadn't expected that. Neither had I, but it was a valid point. He had kissed me unprovoked. I hadn't batted my eyelashes at him. The question I should have asked him was 'why'.

In a soft voice, he said, "I know. I'm-." I sent a hard glare his way and he paused. I really didn't feel like hearing the word 'sorry' coming out of his mouth right now. "I didn't mean it."

"How could you not mean it?" I took a step away from the wall now that my legs were steadier. First the almost fight, now this. When would the night's surprises end? "Either you kiss or you don't," I argued, choosing the wrong time to be perverse.

Looking slightly stubborn, Ash protested, "I was aiming for your cheek, I swear"

"So how did you end up at my lips?"

That might have been the wrong question to ask, because as soon as I mentioned the word 'lips', Ash's eyes dropped to my mouth and he stared for the longest minute before dragging his eyes back up to meet mine.

Not the best way to defend yourself. Still, I was nonplussed. Why was he staring at my lips like he wanted to kiss me again? Was I reading way too much into this? You're trippin', Serena. Definitely wishful thinking.

But I felt that I had to know. Part of me was insisting that Ash had kissed me because he liked me in that way, but I knew it couldn't be true. Yet I couldn't debunk that theory till I heard from him that he hadn't kissed me because he liked me in that way.

For some odd reason, A word floated unbidden into my mind.

'He's smooth. I guess I could say- he's been around the block a few times. He knows how to play the game.'

Could this have been clue? Was I just a pawn in a Ash Ketchum game?

Before I could think more about this, Ash spoke and I almost jumped. I'd been so wrapped up in my head that I almost forgot he was there.

"I told you that my head hurts. You- you don't understand how bad it actually is." He gave a humourless laugh, shaking his head slightly. "So when I leaned in to kiss your cheek, my vision doubled and I..." His voice trailed off and he licked his lips again, his eyes not leaving mine. "I shouldn't have done it, though."

I laughed nervously, clutching my purse. The sincerity in his voice was impossible to miss, which had to mean he was telling the truth and the kiss had just been a mistake. Are you happy now, Serena?

"You really surprised me," I said, tittering as I twisted the strap of the bag in between my fingers.

Ash didn't crack a smile, if anything, he looked even more serious. "It was a total dick move. I shouldn't be touching you like- like we're best friends, not until we're used to each other." My mouth gaped open with surprise as he continued, sounding angry with himself. "But I just forget because you're so nice and so easy to talk to." The corner of his mouth turned up in a cute, lopsided smile as he looked at me. "I feel like we've been friends for years and- now I messed up."

Involuntarily, my head shook from left to right as I tried to cut in, to tell him that that's exactly how I felt about him, too.

"Ash-," I started, but he was on a roll and he just talked over me.

"I don't want this to mess up our friendship," he concluded, hanging his head as he stared down at his sneakers. "I'm sorry."

Stepping closer to him with all my courage. I put a hand on his arm, feeling his muscles tense then relax as I touched him.

"Our friendship means a lot to me too," I said quietly. I really didn't want it ruined by this either and an idea popped into my head. "We can just- agree to push this under the rug."

I didn't want to lose Ash, now that I'd found him. When I was with him, I forgot about the real world and my problems at home. Ash had problems too and I felt that he understood what I was going through with Alain, even if it was just a little bit. He also had a bullying, domineering man in his life.

Being friends with May and Dawn was different. Sure, they were sympathetic, but their problems consisted of bad hair days and zits.

Ash's eyes widened. "You're cool with that?" he asked, twisting away from my hand so that he was facing me.

I nodded. "Yeah."

"Just forget this ever happened?"

"Forget what ever happened?" I asked with my best guileless look on my face.

He chuckled. "You're just awesome, Sere. But I'm really-," he started.

I waved a finger in his face. "Uh uh," I said, noting the apologetic expression playing on his handsome features. "Say sorry again and I swear, I'll scream."

Deja vu was kicking in. This was almost the same conversation we were having right before he kissed me.

Luckily, before anything else could pop off, Dawn stepped down the hallway towards us.

"There you are! I've been looking all over for you!" she exclaimed, totally oblivious to the awkward vibe that Ash and I were giving off. I didn't know whether to yell at her or laugh. She doesn't notice anything!

"Why? What's up?" I asked. Maybe she had spotted our abrupt exit from the ballroom. Sure took her long enough to get here.

Dawn tapped her wrist, pointing to her watch. "I don't know about you, but I want to get out of here. Do you know how embarrassing it is to have pervy old men pinch your ass right in front of your boyfriend?"

Ash turned a snort of laughter into an ill-disguised cough as Dawn turned to glower in his direction.

"Sorry, I got something stuck in my throat," he spluttered, wiping tears of laughter from his eyes. Obviously, he didn't believe that Dawn and Paul would last for long. Then again, it had been almost three weeks already, and that was practically a record where Dawn was concerned.

"So you want to leave?" I asked her. She nodded, her dark blue hair bouncing.

"If you're ready."

Boy, was I ever. But in order to leave, I had to say bye to Ash's dad and the last thing I felt like doing was seeing that man again.

I nodded at an impatiently fidgeting Dawn, who was tapping her shoe on the tiled floor, and turned to Ash, who still seemed to be holding back laughter.

"I guess I should go say bye to your dad-," I started half-heartedly. Ash shook his head immediately, moving closer to me so that nosy Dawn wouldn't hear.

"You really don't have to. Like he deserves it. I'll tell him you said bye." He shrugged. "I know he's unpleasant to deal with."

I smiled gratefully at him and was rewarded by a gorgeous smile back. Damn, those eyes...

"Thanks, Ash," I said.

He wrapped his arms around me tightly placing his hand on my shoulder, hugging me against him. "Are you kidding me? Thank you. I swear, I'm gonna make this up to you," he whispered in my ear, brushing my honey blond hair out of my face.

I looked at his cola eyes in mute as he did the same. Not letting my view slid down on his parted lips. If I did. What else can I do?

Behind us, Dawn cleared her throat loudly and deliberately. "I hate to break this up, but are we done here?"