o5.
chapter five:
SHE CALLED
ME LOVE!
<3

I woke up rather early next morning, having found no sleep for most of the night. My chest pricked in pain, and my waist felt rather stiff. I sent a quick 'good morning' to Serena, and left to take a warm bath.

As expected, five scars, left by fingernails, ran along from my shoulder blade down to my chest, and it burned upon the touch of water. Just how much was she in pain to unknowingly dig her nails so deep, past my shirt?

My heart clenched at the very thought, and I hurried with my shower to visit her as soon as possible. I found no courage to stop talking to Gary, so I did nothing to ignore him. For now, Serena's health was much more important to me.

On my way there, I bought a couple of pink roses. I knew she liked roses and the color pink. Perhaps happiness might help heal her quick. After all, school was starting in two days, and we had to pack today. At least, that was the schedule before the accident.

I pulled up near Serena's home; it was cozy, quaint and painted in soft colors. I opened my phone to look at five notifications from her.

Serena <3: Morning. ^^

Serena <3: Where are youuu?! >:I

Serena <3: Care to come by? :0

Serena <3: Ash!! Owl! Pwease? I'm lonely! :(

Serena <3: Pwease? Pretty pwease?! T^T

You: Of course, not. Why would I? You live so far away, and driving takes too much of my enegry. I'm lazy, zz.

Serena <3: Oh...

You: You awake?

Serena <3: No, asleep. V3V zzz.

You: Open up, or tell your Mum to if she's there. I'm freezing out here! ×///×

I didn't get a reply, instead the door opened and I saw her peeking out. I pushed myself off of my car and walked to the doorway.

A grin tugged at her lips, and she squealed. "You seriously came?! I thought you were in your bed!"

I shook my head, running my hand through my hair. "I was already on my way when I sent you that."

"You had me for a minute. Oh, come in! It must be freezing out there!" She ushered me in and shut the door. "Hot cocoa? Coffee?"

My head throbbed, so I chose for the latter, before pushing her down to the sofa. "I got a good look at your kitchen, so let me brew it myself. What would you prefer, Mademoiselle?"

Serena chuckled, the sound angelic. "The same as you, sir."

I smiled, then remembered the flowers. When I withdrew it from my pocket, her eyes widened. "I thought you'd like roses? To–to help you feel better." I proffered them, and she accepted gladly, a similar hue tinting her cheeks. 

She took a sniff of them. "T-thank you!" And I felt satisfied with myself as her eyes lit up. Then, I excused myself and left to brew us some coffee.

When I returned with two cups, I found Serena dozing lightly on the couch, the flowers clutched in her hand. Perhaps she's still shaken. I placed the coffee cups on the table. It could always be heated.

After finding suitable lids to close them, I settled into the spot beside her, so that her head would rest on my shoulder rather than fall back. The pleasant aroma of strawberries greeted my nostrils, and I realized in a daze that it was probably her soap or perfume.

I had no idea when my eyes shut to fall into a dreamless sleep.

When I woke up, I heard heavy raindrops hit the windows. My eyes glided to the girl beside me; she was still asleep, snoring softly. I felt stiff when I tried to get up. In the process I had managed to jerk Serena awake. Curse you!

"Fall back into sleep," I whispered, caressing her cheek. She looked up at me in a daze, her eyes half-open. She shifted to my chest instead, and I bit back the urge to scream as pain shot through. Then, she mumbled something almost incoherent.

"Mhm... you're comfy, the way I love." I breath caught in my throat. Did she tell what I heard?

"Serena?" I asked slowly, but was greeted by her soft snores instead.

Thunder boomed somewhere else, and the rain splattered against the windows. The weather was stormy and chilly, but I felt the warmest I have ever been. I shifted slightly, and made sure that the both of us were comfortable, before trying to go back to sleep. But all I could do was think her sentence over and over again.

You're comfy, the way I love.

Love.

Did she just tell what I heard in her trance?

A close. . .

No, an almost term of endearment?!

I was so engrossed in my thoughts, that I did not notice Serena wide-awake and staring at me. "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed, as red as a tomato as she sat up straight. I instantly felt the warmth drain out, and frowned.

"Don't worry about it. I woke up now as well. And I'm sorry too. I just didn't want you to sprain your neck." I said, rubbing the back of my head, sheepishly. Serena shook her head.

"I shouldn't have dozed off. Wait, what's that?" Her fingertips grazed my jaw, and I felt my heart rate quicken. "Ash, you're bruised!"

"Am I?"

She punched my chest. Albeit playfully, I could not control the wince that I did. "I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed again. "Are you hurt there as well?"

"Don't worry about it."

"How can I not?" When I looked at her, I found her eyes watery. Not again.

"Hey, it isn't a big wound or anything!" I hurried to assure her, but she shook her head and left my side in a limp. I briefly considered going after her, but decided against it when she popped into the room with what looked like a first-aid box. "Serena, I don't—"

"You shut it, and tilt your head up! Oh, you should have applied anti-septic as soon as you spotted this bruise."

"I didn't—"

"No complaining!"

I sat in silence as she got to business, cleaning the dried blood and applying some cream. It was hard not to grimace as the bruise burned, but I might as well try to turn into a rock rather than wish to curl up in a corner and cry at her watery eyes. Serena did not speak a word as she worked on, just biting her lip or flinching whenever I withdrew in pain.

Truth be told, I never noticed a bruise on my jaw. It had hurt a few times as I tossed and turned in my bed, the night before, and I had waved the pain off, thinking it had been my wisdom tooth trying to grow.

When she was done patching up my jaw, she prodded, "You're hurt anywhere else?"

I smiled in return, somewhat liking her attention on me. "Thanks, but nope."

She frowned and stood up, hands on her hips. "What about your shoulder, Owl?"

"That was a minor scratch," I lied, gesturing my thumb and forefinger together to show the intensity of the injury. Her brows arched as if she saw through my cover.

"I don't believe you."

"Ouch!"

"Remove your hoodie."

"Huh?"

She leaned in closer, so close that the tip of our noses touched. I briefly considered signing my heart up for a marathon. "You heard me. Remove your hoodie right now, Ash Ketchum." How could someone so sweet and pretty be so terrifying? If you were to tell me Misty was horrifying when mad, I would wholeheartedly agree. She looked the part, but if you told me it wasn't Misty but Serena, I would've shrugged it off as some kind of mistake.

That is, until now.

"H-hey! How am I supposed to strip in front of a girl?" I countered, faking embarrassment and hoping I could make her awkward.

But she wasn't buying it.

"I didn't ask you to take your shirt off! Besides, I've seen you shirtless on the beach!"

I sighed. Our previous summer camp included a trip to the beach, and she was not lying about it. "I can't complain then?"

"Nope."

Ten more minutes passed in the same way with her cleaning and band-aiding the scars. She tensed at the markings upon seeing them for the first time. "Is – is it my fault?" She had asked in an horrified voice. I knew all too well how guilt would destroy a person, and so I simply embraced her and whispered a lie.

Not that she bought that either.

"Where's your Mum?" I asked her once she was sitting beside me, all done.

A frown replaced her look. "They called her in early. She did tell she'd be home early, but I don't think so. They're giving her a lot of paperwork because she refused to travel abroad until I'm into college."

I nodded and we fell into a companiable silence, just watching the TV. At first, we blankly stared at the screen showing some sort of massacre in Kanto caused by a mafia leader, Giovanni. The said man was supposed to have fled the place, and the police were on the lookout. They continued showing disturbing sights, so I requested a change of channel.

There was a new anime playing in the next channel, titled 'Windbreaker'. It was my turn to frown when Serena complimented the male protagonist. "Doesn't he look so cool?!"

"Honestly, Ampharos, what's up with falling for every fictional guy on the planet?"

Serena pouted and punched my shoulder. "At least they don't know you exist."

"That's the point! They don't know you exist! And they don't even exist. Why crush on them when you've got real, cool boys who like you?" I blurted out, realizing with a cold sweat what I had told.

Now, she was gazing intently at me, a blazing look on her pretty face. "Like who?"

I laughed nervously, scratching my cheek. There's no opportunity better than now... We're alone too, so nobody ain't gonna disrupt me, but...

Is it time yet?

"I— don't know?"

"You had someone in your mind!" she implored. "Please tell me? I wanna know which idiot would even look me that way!"

The one idiot that you're looking at.

Forget it. Can I go sob? "Er—"

Ding dong!

Serena backed away, a disappointed look etched across her features as she walked to the door. I sighed in relief, placing a hand over my beating heart to calm it. Why am I so pathetic when it comes to her?

Ash Ketchum was always the collected guy, even if he were reckless and obnoxious, even dense. It took me a year to realize what I felt for her, thanks to Brocko, my senior, Gary, Misty and May, my closely knit friends group. Sure, Gary took time to mature, but they've always been by my side during all the bullying. Serena, too, but we lived a thousand miles apart. Even so, I found myself falling for her.

A virtual love, indeed, virtual and impossible.

I had totally zoned out, mulled over in thoughts that I didn't notice Serena speaking in the doorway, her phone acting as a flashlight for there was a blackout.

"There's something I must tell you, Serena." I heard Calem's voice. What? "Is Ash in here?"

Why would it matter...? Unless my suspicions were right and I had indeed found myself a rival for Serena's feelings. My heart sank, regretting not telling her before.

"Yeah, he is."

For whatever reason, I didn't hear the response, instead heard footsteps nearing. If he were a foe, I decided that I would take him head on. There was no backing out once fallen into the abyss of love, and I was determined to win Serena over.

— 💌 —

Hey guys!
This A/N isn't related to the story, but I wanted to know if anybody wanted dedications (dts) on another short amour fic by me? :0

If you're interested, comment! The first person to do so gets the main dts, while ofc, I'll mention the others should they comment before the publication of the said book. I'd love to mention everyone, but screw Wattpad notifs for not showing every comment I get. :')

Anyways, how's this fic so far? I'd love to know your thoughts!

Thank you for reading!

Miyoko x