Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, the characters, and the show. I only own the plot of this story.
She was running. And crying.
Ash broke her heart. Again. But this time, the girl was sure this was different. This time, her heart wouldn't mend as fast as she wanted it to.
The blue-eyed trainer didn't know where she was heading. She just knew that she had to get away from everything before she gets more heartbroken.
She stopped in her tracks when she saw a familiar figure just a few yards away from her. The boy didn't seem to notice her, seeing as he was too busy fixing up some sort of contraption.
Good, she thought. At least he wouldn't see me like this.
She slowly walked backwards so as to check if the boy would suddenly look at her direction. He didn't.
The brunette turned around, relief spreading throughout her body, when she hit a nearby lamppost.
"Ouch," she muttered while rubbing her forehead. She didn't even bother checking where she was heading. Luckily for her, she didn't sport a swollen bruise.
Unfortunately, the boy she tried to evade noticed the commotion and came towards her.
"Serena," he said, voice full of concern. "Are you all right?"
He helped her stand upright before she replied, "I'm fine Clemont. I just bumped into a lamppost is all."
She tried to cover it up by laughing, but it only brought more tears in her eyes.
"No, you're not fine," insisted Clemont. He paused, his expression betraying his hesitation to speak, when he finally said, "It's more than the bump."
She cursed inwardly. Why did he have to be so observant?
"Okay, you got me. It's more than that," Serena conceded. "But that doesn't mean I'm gonna tell you what happened."
"Fine. But at least let me help you." Clemont reached deep into his pocket and got out a small blue handkerchief.
Serena was a bit surprised. He was being himself, but at the same time he wasn't. Or maybe he was just showing a side of him she never bothered seeing. It made her already hurt head ache a little from the thought.
Before she could change her mind, she took the piece of cloth. "Thanks."
An uncomfortable silence passed between them as she wiped her face. Clemont was looking at her as if he was analyzing something.
Serena cleared her throat, aware that he was deducing what happened. She tried getting his attention by asking what he was doing here.
"Oh, you know, fixing up my latest failed invention." He pointed back to his workplace. Mechanical parts were scattered everywhere, screws were strewn, and blueprints covered the floor. It looked messy.
He scratched his head, embarrassed. "It's usually neater than what you see now. I'm just kind of distracted these days."
He went ahead to fix the mess, not bothering to explain what he had said.
Instead, he added, "I'm heading back to the others after I clean this place up. Are you coming with me?"
"N-no!" Serena quickly shouted. She didn't want to see more familiar faces at the moment, especially Ash's.
Clemont looked at her abruptly, his glasses hiding what must have been a look of surprise in his eyes. He went back to his work saying nothing.
"What I mean is," Serena amended, "I don't want more people to worry if they see me like this. Once is enough."
Finishing up, the blond nodded in assent. "Okay. I'll just tell them you need some air."
"Clemont, wait." Serena hesitated. What was she doing? Before anything could stop her, she whispered, "Please stay."
She didn't know why, but Clemont's presence comforted her. It's not like before wherein she felt like she had to be polite to him. This time, the brunette had a feeling that she could tell him everything without him judging.
A look of confusion and shock painted across the gym leader's face, but he agreed nonetheless.
Serena took a deep breath, silently praying that this would turn out well.
"I'll help you with those." The female trainer grabbed some of Clemont's stuff from his hands. "Let's find someplace to sit. I got a feeling we're going to take long."
She started telling him what happened.
Ash and Serena were walking side by side, talking about anything under the sun. It had been their unspoken tradition to spend every other weekend with one another for a simple stroll and some chit chat. Serena always anticipated these kinds of weekend because it's her excuse to be alone with him.
"So that's how I got Pikachu to dance the tango," Ash finished, not bothering to hide his amused smile.
Serena laughed out loud to his story. That's why she loved Ash. She always liked his stories. Plus, he could easily make her smile and simply enjoy.
A beep from the Kanto trainer's XTransciever disrupted her laughter. "Hold on. I gotta take this."
Serena was left standing behind Ash as he talked to whoever it was on the other line. She heard a few words that caught her attention. The mention of Sinnoh Region made her feel nervous for no apparent reason.
"See you." Ash was finished with the call when he turned to her.
"Serena, I am so sorry, but I totally forgot that Dawn is coming here today. She's a very special friend of mine and she wants me to get her from the airport."
The way Ash's face lit from mentioning his former companion's name made her heart ache. He even called the blunette special which only made her more nauseous.
"I have to go there now because her flight is scheduled this time. She might..." Serena couldn't seem to hear what he was saying. He's leaving her here. Leaving her for Dawn.
She could feel tears threatening to spill from her eyes at any second.
"So is it okay if I go?" Ash asked hopefully.
"W-what?" She was too lost in her thoughts to focus on anything. He repeated his question for her.
No, I don't want you to leave, she wanted to say. Stay here with me.
But the excitement in his brown eyes discouraged her to say those things. It reminded her too much of herself every time she and Ash would be alone together.
"It's alright, Ash. There's always another weekend for us to hang out." She faked a smile so that he wouldn't notice her heart breaking.
Ash smiled that smile she only ever saw when they got a glimpse of Dawn on a TV commercial once. She had no reason to be jealous of her before, but now she wanted to smash the girl's pretty face if it weren't for Ash.
"You're the best," he said, hugging her. The blue-eyed brunette would've noticed it by but she was too hurt to care.
He let go of her and excitedly ran to the other direction. "I gotta go now. Bye!"
She watched as Ash slowly faded from her sight before she too, ran.
"You know what's worse," cried Serena, "I finally thought he noticed me enough to like me the way I like him. I was too caught up on my fantasies of him to notice what was really going on."
She and Clemont were sitting on a bench while she recalled the story. She was crying again. Serena hugged herself tightly, relishing the comforting feeling of her own warmness.
"It was Dawn all along, wasn't it?" She turned to look at the boy next to him, hoping that he would contradict her. To her disappointment, he only looked at her somberly before diverting his gaze.
She dropped her hands to her lap and stared at them intently. "I was so stupid to believe that he was in love with me."
To both of their surprises, Clemont hugged her. It was awkward at first, but she started to relax and hugged him back. It was the comfort she needed.
"Serena," he started, "you're not stupid. You're a strong person. I know that even if it will hurt, you'd still see to it that Ash is your friend. And I know that you would still care about his well-being even if he doesn't like you that way. And he'd still care about you as well."
It kind of hurt hearing the truth from him, but at the same time she was intrigued as to how he knew all of this.
Pulling back from his embrace, she said, "You wouldn't know what I feel. And it's lucky that you don't."
"And why would you assume that?" he questioned. The lenses of his glasses were obscuring his eyes, making it hard to determine what he was feeling.
She sighed for a moment and said, "Because you've never loved someone who didn't love you back."
The bespectacled boy breathed in deeply. "You think I don't know what you're feeling?" He asked softly, sadness seeping in his voice.
A tense silence surrounded them. She was about to tell him never mind when he spoke, "I met this wonderful girl during our journey with Ash. She was everything a guy could ask for, and every girl wanted to be in her place.
"I tried my best to impress her. I created my craziest inventions to show her my skills but she never noticed. Still, I tried and tried until one day, I found out she had her heart set out on another." He paused and looked down at his lap.
He exhaled a shaky breath and continued, "I never stood a chance with the guy she liked. I looked on as she watched him with so much adoration. It hurt, but it was the only way the girl wouldn't find out my feelings for her.
"Eventually, she was the only one who occupied my thoughts. I got so distracted that all of my inventions..." he trailed off. "All I could think of was, why not me? Why did I have to like her?"
He turned towards her saying, "I guess I've known all along that she only wanted me to be her friend. So I did my best to be one to her, even if it meant hiding the truth from her."
Her heart went out to him. How could someone not notice this genuine, kind-hearted, humble, genius boy?
She was about to offer words of comfort when he whispered, "And now she knows what I feel about her."
Her mind slowly processed his words before everything stopped for a moment. He liked her?
"And it's okay if she doesn't return them back," he smiled sadly. "Just as long as I could be there for her."
Out of her own will, Serena reached for Clemont's glasses. She didn't know what she was doing, only that it felt right to her. The boy blushed lightly when her fingers lightly caressed his cheeks.
She took it off. She had to hold in a gasp as his eyes were put into focus. They were usually hidden beneath his round spectacles. But as she gazed at them, she realized that they were the most amazing pair of eyes she'd ever seen. She hoped he doesn't hide them again.
The female trainer was still looking into his shock-filled blue eyes, still holding on to his glasses when, in the spur of the moment, she kissed him.
It was her first kiss and it was bittersweet. She half-hoped it was Ash, but at the same time her mind wanted it to be just him.
She fluttered her eyes closed, relishing the feel of his lips against hers. All thoughts of Ash and her confused feelings disappeared.
After a few more seconds, they broke apart. Serena opened her eyes to a dazed Clemont. Suddenly, a look of surprise washed over his face. The blond stood up abruptly.
He quickly grabbed all of his stuff. "I-I... sorry. I have to go."
Before she could apologize or ask if anything was wrong, he ran away from her, leaving his glasses with her.
Out of all the thoughts that ran inside her head, the only thing she recalled is the fact that this was the second time a boy left her.
AN: This is my first ever fanfic in the Pokemon tag. Squee! This is my take on AmourShipping and GeekChicShipping (and a little bit of PearlShipping). I never thought I'd post this one :)) I dunno how it ended that way...
Anyways, I apologize for any grammatical/spelling error you saw. But I hope you guys liked it! Reviews truly make my day. :)