A/N: I kinda wish I didn't write this, now my heart hurts. Twinleafshipping, implied Fortuneshipping.

Icebreaker

It was a very normal day when Barry confessed to her in Sandgem Town. Then again, he hadn't really prepared beforehand. If he knew that he was going to confess, he might have gone a few lengths to create a more suitable environment for the occasion. It wouldn't have been like him to plan things out, however, and maybe it was better this way. Still, his wished that he had the foresight of what he was going to say that day.

Instead, the confession just slipped out of him, like a fish escaping his grasp. Words were unforgiving like that. They never let you take them back, but in this case, he didn't mind if they never returned.

"I was surprised to see you. I didn't think you'd have the time to come back, considering where you told me you were going next. You're preparing to challenge Candice for your last badge, right?"

Dawn was sitting next to him on a stone bench, looking down at a notebook in her lap. When Barry had arrived at the town and couldn't find her at the lab, he had asked around and was eventually directed to the beach located right outside of the town. He found her sitting there by herself with a purple clam shell in her hands when he got there.

"Yeah, I am. It's because Snowpoint City is so far away that I decided to pay you a visit. I know that I won't get back around to these parts for a while once I start going there. I'll be heading off when the sun sets."

Dawn wrenched her eyes away from her notes to give him a small smile before returning to drawing. Even though it was small, her smile felt more expressive than his own, maybe because she handed them out less frequently than he did, and that magnified the feeling one got from it.

"I'm glad that you thought of me," she murmured. She then said, in a slightly louder voice, "I'm guessing that you're going to visit your parents after me?"

"I've already seen them. I thought it'd save me a bit of time if I saw them first, since they live farther away. That way I can directly leave for Snowpoint once I'm done with visits."

"Still always looking for the quickest route, I see. And yet your tardiness knows no bounds. It's a little funny, given how time sensitive you are."

Barry averted his eyes elsewhere.

"I think it's a good ideology to have. I'm not always late, you know. In fact, I'm usually the one who arrives first," he said, sounding offended.

"Yes, when you're not late, you're extremely early. So early that you get impatient and leave fifteen minutes before the meeting time," Dawn said, trying to stifle a laugh with a very pitiful effort that even a toddler would notice.

"It's not my fault that I'm eager to get things started and finished. You guys are just too slow!"

"And then we complain about you being late. You can't really blame us for arriving at a more reasonable time than you, like say, five or ten minutes before the agreed upon time."

"Did you even hear what I said?" Barry asked with a face of appalled rejection.

"Yes, but my point still stands." Her reply was completely composed and unfazed. Dawn lifted the clam shell up to her eyes to examine it closer.

"I still think I'm a timely person with how early I always am."

"Well, any timeliness that you may have had is negated with all the times that you were late, don't you think?"

"...Hmph," he mumbled.

"But I do concede that for as untimely as you are, you get things done quickly. That's one of the things I like about you."

"Well, I'm glad we agree on that, at least."

Barry formed a pout and folded his arms like an angry child. Dawn glanced at him and smiled smugly, having won the battle. Both of them kept this playful act up for a little while longer, before they relaxed in the silence of each other's company as they listened to the sounds of the gently crashing waves.

Barry rested his arms on his knees on the bench as he watched the ocean. Occasionally, he'd sneak a glance at Dawn, who was always looking down, pencil and clam shell in hand. As she worked, she always had a focused expression on her face, one that could easily get mistaken for blankness and apathy if they didn't know her. But Barry knew Dawn for over a year now. As dense as he was when it came to understanding the cadence of a conversation, much less the feelings of others, he was surprisingly adept at detecting the subtle changes in her features.

Perhaps it was because she was the only person other than his best friend that he regularly hung out with. No, it was definitely because of that. Being able to know what someone is feeling after getting to know them is natural and to be expected, and nothing out of the ordinary. Maybe it was a bit odd how quick he picked up the skill, but even then, he wasn't special in that respect, considering that Barry knew that he could do it too.

Every time the three of them decided to meet up, he was always the solo arrival. He wasn't exactly the third wheel. They were too genuine for that, and too open. Barry knew that they weren't doing it intentionally. It just naturally happened, kind of like how in a pile of paper clips, two would eventually link with each other. The way that their eyes lit up when they talked to each other, it couldn't have been more obvious to even a battle-crazy idiot like him.

He knew all too well what was going on, and he was sure that they did too.

Strangely enough, he felt no animosity nor envy towards them. They were his best friends, after all. Still, there was something uncomfortable between them that wasn't there before, and he didn't like it.

Barry decided at that moment that he wanted to resolve things once and for all, even if it meant his own demise.

The moon was already visible when Dawn finished her drawing. Barry stayed a little longer than he said he would, but the sun hadn't completely gone down yet, so he didn't go back on his word just yet. He walked her back to the lab, where Dawn still had a few maintenance tasks to perform before settling down for the night.

"Thanks again for visiting me, Barry. Good luck with your gym battle, and stay safe."

Dawn placed her hand on the doorknob.

"Make sure to bundle up, and carry some ice heals with you. I know Professor Rowan has a few extra -"

He watched her turn her head, and he opened his mouth -

"I like you, Dawn."

Suddenly, his eyes were looking at the floor. He didn't feel his head move, nor did he remember giving his brain the command for his body to do so. Perhaps it was an instinctual reaction, one that was done to protect him from future harm.

Almost exactly five seconds passed before he heard her voice.

"Thank you, Barry. Wait just a moment. I'll go and get some ice heals for you."

He raised his head.

She had already turned and entered the lab, closing the door softly behind her.

Barry scratched the back of his head and stared at the shut door in front of him. He had never felt so closed off from in the world until that moment.

Dawn came out with a carefully tied package a few minutes later. Barry took it out of her hands and carried to his bike. It was heavier than he'd expected – she must have stuffed a lot of them in there. The two of them exchanged a few departing words, and Dawn went back into the lab. He saw her go in this time, and thought she closed the door slightly harder than before, based on the sound he heard.

He climbed back onto his bike – somewhat clumsily, due to the additional weight on it – and fumbled with the handles for a moment as he gained his bearing. Without looking back, he started pedaling steadily towards the northern end of Sandgem Town.

Once Barry reached the entrance of Route 202, he stopped to turn his eyes towards the sky, where a few clouds were gently drifting along, disregarding everything happening below them. He could already see some of the brightest stars showing off their twinkle amongst the darker parts of the sky. Feeling as though he could reach them right now if he really tried, he extended his hand towards them, only to grasp at air.

He sighed. He couldn't say that he knew this was going to happen, even with everything he knew. There was that sliver of hope, the chance that it could have gone a different way. And while that hope was exhausted, where it left gave him another feeling, one that made him feel weightless. It was a strange feeling of confidence, one that he hadn't felt since the start of his journey.

He was ready to go to Snowpoint City, and he was ready to defeat Candice.