"𝓞𝓾𝓻 𝓰𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓼𝓽 𝓳𝓸𝔂 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓰𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓽𝓮𝓼𝓽 𝓹𝓪𝓲𝓷 𝓬𝓸𝓶𝓮
𝓲𝓷 𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓻𝓮𝓵𝓪𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓼𝓱𝓲𝓹 𝔀𝓲𝓽𝓱 𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓼."
                                                -𝒮𝓉𝑒𝓅𝒽𝑒𝓃 ℛ.𝒞𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓎
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"Learning all these things about you... doesn't change my feelings for you and it makes me feel like a fool. With all these wonderful friends lined up before me... I know I'm not your number one... I know I'm not your first choice... Not once have you seen me as more than a friend... and that's why I feel a fool... why can't I not see us as just friends?... "

I'm not sure when I woke up, likely very early the next day since the sun had yet to rise beyond the horizon to greet its people to a new day. As I use my arms to push myself up I realise that I had slept on the ground, coiled up like a baby and my hair was messy .... Like HIS I guess.

"Aww, snap out of it Serena... You're overreacting”

I brush my hair with my hands, getting back to a slightly more favourable shape. Slowly, I began to stand but my body was just so unstable and wobbly from my night of storms and pain. While I physically didn't receive any injuries I could feel my heart hurt from the recoil of my Wild charge last night.

However, it was a good thing I had a slow start because if I didn't I wouldn't have noticed a note that had slipped under the door. "Hmm?" I pick it up as I finally manage to stand on my unstable legs. Thanks to the odd position I slept in, my legs had become very numb and shaky so I had to sit on the bed in the room just to keep from falling over. As I sit I begin to read the note left for me. Judging by the handwriting I assumed it was left by Clemont.

Since you hadn't returned last night after leaving I picked up your pokemon from Nurse Joy," At that moment I slapped my hand against my forehead for leaving without telling them. I felt so horribly for just running off without even picking up my pokemon... as if I didn't feel like much of a fool already...

"I don't know what happened last night but after you ran off we got really worried about you. You didn't even answer your door last night when I tried to return your pokemon. I'm pretty sure you don't really want to talk about what happened last night but if you need someone to talk to I'm here... you can pick up your pokemon in the morning. I hope you'll feel better tomorrow for our beach trip... We decided to head out for that at around 7am.

-Clemont"

I sigh as I plop down onto the bed. I knew it was nowhere near 7am, more likely it was around 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning but I couldn't go back to sleep... my head hurt too much with the thoughts buzzing around in there like an angry hoard of Beedrill.

Since Ash told us about this little vacation I was so excited to take part in it and just hang out at the beach with him, Bonnie, Clemont and whoever this friend was. However, now I don't want to do anything now... that talk last night just zapped everything I had from me. Just recalling what Iris said made my blood boil and the worst part about it was that she said it so casually... "Yeah he does, and now with you guys... he has like what... 5, 6 lady friends? If you keep this up Ash you'll have so many girlfriends that you won't be able to tell them apart anymore!" I just couldn't take it.

I knew it was a joke, I knew she just referred to all the friends Ash has made that just happened to be female but to say that after hearing how highly Ash praises them... It makes me wonder if I'm just lost in the sea of girls he's met that have not only accomplished more than I, but also are more memorable than me... I mean, what do I have that's worth mentioning? All I can think of is maybe the fact I met him when he was very young but beyond those 15 minutes of childhood bliss there really isn't much else.

I guess it doesn't matter now, I should at least try to have fun today for their sake... Clemont sounded to be very worried about me judging by his letter so, if only this once, I'll have to battle through my depression and have fun. Though now I see that doing that was just adding oil to the flames... If I thought the pain I suffered now was bad it wouldn't be as bad as the pain I would suffer at the end of all this.

After staring at the ceiling a while longer I finally get up and wobble my way to the bathroom for a bath. Before I knew it I was done and wearing a beach robe, ready to have summer beach fun. As I finished placing the final details on my short, honey coloured hair with beautiful red ribbons on either side of my head I smiled happily. It seemed that a long bath was just what I needed to clear my mind, for a while at least.

As I finished I noticed that my shoulder strap had become loose somehow so I tried to adjust it, sliding the bikini off my right shoulder so I could easily reach it when I heard a knock on my door followed by Ash opening the door without hesitation "Serena, you ready?" Naturally I threw my robe back on in a deep blush. Why? Well, mostly because the right side of my chest was exposed as I had removed it to adjust the strap.

"A-Ash! Don't j-just come in l-like...err... I'm just adjusting the straps... almost done..." I couldn't bring myself to yell at him for some reason but I was still very embarrassed from him just bursting in with little warning.

However, it seemed that Ash had no idea what was going on as he didn't see. Being that my face was completely covered in a deep blush I refused to look at him so I had no idea he was standing there in just swimming shorts which was a good thing since I'm sure if I had seen him I would have fainted right there and then.

"Umm... okay... when you're done we'll be down stairs waiting... okay? Oh and here are your pokemon...I'll just put them on the counter..." He said, seemingly picking up my odd behaviour as he scratches the back of his head. "Y-yes! I shouldn't take too long... thank you"

For a solid minute he just stood there, silent, just staring at me. It felt so odd with those eyes of his glued onto me without moving at all. That minute felt like an hour to me as the silence overtook us, only to be finally broken.

"Serena... I..."

"Ash! Hurry up! A Slowpoke could move faster than you!" cried Iris from down the hall, interrupting what Ash wanted to say to me. "A-ah... Yeah! Coming!" He looked at me one more time before running off and allowing silence to walk right back into the room. I don't know, it felt like he wanted to say something important to me but I couldn't linger on that now... I had to go...

"Common Dedenne! Let's go swimming!" Cried the always happy and energy filled Bonnie as she ran quickly towards the water with her pretty little swimsuit skirt swaying in the light beach breeze. "Bonnie! Come back here! You still have to put on your sunscreen!" yelled Clemont as he ran after his happy-go-lucky sister with the sunscreen in hand. Of course, while that madness went on me, Ash and Iris prepared our spot on the beach with our beach towels and giant umbrella that looked like a Quaqsire from above.

All the while Iris and Ash spoke to each other happily, seemingly talking about some battle Tactics and such things. Me? As the others did their own thing I kept my robe on as I was quite nervous about what Ash would think about my suit. Since yesterday I have had it stuck in my head that I wasn't worthy and had begun to question everything about the things I did to attract his attention. Sitting on a beach towel, I was so stuck in my thoughts that I just kind of stopped paying attention to anything around me as I hugged my knees to my chest. I was like that for a few minutes until Ash touched my shoulder which made me jump out of skin out of shock.

"A-ahh..." I'm almost certain I had the most idiotic look on my face ever, like a Deerling caught in headlights. "S-sorry Serena, I didn't mean to scare you... I was just wondering if you wanted to come swim with us." Quickly I shook my head and regained my senses as I smiled. "Y-yes! I'd love to... Sorry I guess I got caught in my own head again..." I swear my mind was everywhere except for here which drove me nuts. I wanted to enjoy myself but that was easier said than done...

"It's okay, here, let me help you up..."

Ash extends his hand to me which makes a memory so precious to my heart flash before me of when he saved me at Summer Camp that I instinctively took it. As I stood I retained my balance this time, not falling right into his arms like when we were younger. Instead I just stood in front of him, staring into his eyes and holding the hand he helped me with. My heart... I could feel it melt into the ground like an ice cube by a Magmar as I just stared at him.

It was just a few moments but it felt like a dream come true looking at him like this. It would have been perfect if the others weren't here... Not that I didn't want them around... I just wished it was just me and Ash right now...

"Ash! Serena! Hurry up!" Called Bonnie as she finished applying the last of her sunscreen with Clemont's help. Sadly, that is when the moment ended and Ash slips away from my grasp and runs to join the others. It was only a few seconds... but those few seconds made me regain hope that maybe we can be. It restored my heart to full health. Little did I know that this was only the calm before the storm......

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A/N: Hey guys! This is going to be a last update of my amourshipping books. My sem exams are about to start. So, no updates until the exams are over. After exams over, this book have regular updates.

Thank you! for reading have a nice day!

See you soon in the middle of May!

Until byee guys! 😁