I am so sorry guys! I know I haven't updated in a long while and I am really really late, but, Happy New Year! I hope 2019 treats all of you well!
I had my exams from 3rd of January and that was a shit start of 2019. Hopefully the rest of the year will be good to me. Anyways, I had a question for you all. What would you guys prefer? Longer chapter but slower updates or shorter chapter but faster updates? I usually make my chapter about 5k to 6k words long but I am thinking of cutting the chapter length to update quicker. Please lemme know!
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Ash watched as Dawn glanced at her phone frequently. What was she waiting for? He had a hunch and couldn't help but ask,"Are you waiting for your mother to call?"
Dawn's head jerked up at the question as a small, sheepish smile formed on her face. She asked,"Is it that obvious?"
Ash nodded, holding back his own smile. She could just be so cute at times.
Dawn sighed as she put her phone back in the pocket, saying,"Come on! Laugh if you want to."
Ash passed her a look,"Why would I laugh?"
Dawn rolled her eyes as if the answer was just too obvious. She clarified,"Well, I was always called a Momma's girl for depending on my mother too much."
Ash couldn't help but say,"What's wrong in that? I depend on my Mom for everything too."
Dawn couldn't tell him how much that relieved her. He just knew how to say the exact things and she was glad about that. She just gave him a big smile, saying,"Forget about it. Lets go!"
Ash was confused. Go where? He said that out loud, stopping her in the tracks. Her expression puzzled him even further, what was he forgetting?
"You forgot?" Dawn asked quietly, as if not believing his words.
He shook his head in confusion,"What?"
"You said we were going to a Sweets' shop!" Dawn mumbled, looking grumpy and a little bit annoyed. They had that discussion just half an hour ago! How could he forget so quickly!
Ash's eyes widened as he stammered,"O-oh! Yeah! Yeah! W-we were going to the shop!"
Dawn glared at him for a few seconds then her gaze softened. She spoke so quitely that Ash almost couldn't hear her.
"If you have somewhere else to be, you can go."
Her voice was barely above whisper but he heard it loud and clear. His heart instantly sank as he realised he almost made her feel unwanted. He quickly apologized, saying,"Come on! Don't be silly. Lets go and eat?"
She shook her head, saying,"It was wrong of me to drag you out with me. I didn't even ask if you had any plans and.."
Ash didn't let her finish and poked her nose, saying,"Don't be so stupid. I wouldn't have agreed if I didn't want to come. I like spending time with you."
He realised his words and instantly shut up, looking down. 'Shit! How did that come out of my mouth!' he thought to himself, his cheeks turning red.
Dawn felt warmth rushing through her body as she couldn't help as her lips curved into a smile. "Lets go then."
Ash wondered how she was treating this timespending as. Was she just treating it as casual meeting or was she treating it as a date? Did she even think about him like that? Knowing her, she was probably not worried about it at all.
"What are you thinking about?" She asked him as he was deep in thought.
He looked at her and shook his head, saying it was nothing. He wondered what would it feel like if she had mutual feelings for him. Were they going to be friends forever? Would he confess and get rejected? If he confesses, will she accept him? Was he just a friend? Nothing more? She never showed any interest in him, not any romantic interest at least.
What was he to her? The more he thought about it, the more the question was eating and troubling him.
"Hey Ash?" Dawn broke his train of thoughts,"I have a question?"
He nodded,"What?''
She was wondering if she should ask that or not. But curiousity was tempting her and she couldn't help but ask,"You know, Gary and Leaf were talking about you having a crush on someone..."
Ash instantly realised where the question was going and gulped, hard,"Yeah?"
She turned to him, her eyes wide and curious,"Who is she?"
He couldn't say it was her. 'What the hell is wrong with my luck?' he mentally cursed himself. "It's actually... No one..."
Dawn glared at him from the corner of her eye, saying,"You are not going to tell me?" It was more like a threat than order and Ash wondered how long he could hide things. It's not like he was hiding, right? He was just waiting for the correct opportunity.
He shook his head,"I'll tell you but not today." He noticed that they were almost at the shop and tried to change the topic and bring something else up. He poked on her shoulder, saying,"We are almost here."
She was excited because she had never been to a shop with anyone else other than her mother or maids. Moreover, she was with Ash and that made her even more happier. 'I guess I can pester him later,' she thought to herself.
She noticed the shop from a distance and read the signboard that said,'The Sensational Sweets.' A small, quirky smile formed on her lips as she asked,"The name is.. quite unusual.''
Ash chuckled at her words and couldn't help but say,"You'll find the shop owners more unusual. Trust me."
"Hey Ash," Dawn spoke as he was about to open the door, making him turn in her direction,"Thanks. This means a lot. The Leaf-Gary fiasco was really growing on me and this little things you do, really means a lot."
Ash felt warmth bubbling inside of him as he asked,"Are you happy now?"
"Yeah."
"Sweet. Lets go in, okay?"
She nodded and followed him inside. The only words she could use to describe the interior were blue and mesmerizing. The ceiling had paintings of mermaids and corals while the walls were painted blue with small aquariums placed on various corners. The walls had pictures of many oceans and lakes and Dawn couldn't help but wonder if it was a sea themed shop.
She saw Ash walking up to the counter and quickened her pace to reach him. The shop was almost empty, except for the two of them and the beautiful blonde lady at the counter.
"Hell- Hey Ash!" The lady exclaimed,"Its so nice to see you again!"
Dawn noticed Ash smiling back at the lady and concluded that they were old acquaintances. She wondered how Ash knew her.
"Hey Daisy!" Ash chuckled as Daisy leaned on the counter to talk to him,"How are ya?"
"I am good!" Daisy cheerfully replied,"Oh! You brought your girlfriend huh?" She looked at Dawn and smiled.
Dawn's head perked up on hearing those words and her eyes quickly drifted to Ash who, for some reason was red all over. "We are not dating," She said with a smile. 'Is that how people see me and Ash?' she questioned herself.
Ash felt a stab on his chest. He knew it was the truth but hearing that from her directly made it hurt even more. He awkwardly smiled, trying to make himself feel less stupid,"Yeah. We are just school buddies."
Daisy passed the two of them a look and then gave an embarrassed giggle,"I am sorry! What's your name cutie?"
Dawn smiled on hearing the compliment as she replied,"Dawn. Dawn Berlitz."
Daisy shook her hand and introduced herself,"I am Daisy Waterflower. Welcome to our shop."
"Daisy?" Ash got her attention,"Give me a chocolate parfait and a mont blanc!"
"Coming up!" Daisy chirped and then looked at Dawn, asking,"What are you to have?"
Dawn glanced at all the pastries and frowned,"They all look so good and honestly, I can't choose!"
Daisy giggled as she said,"Then I'll bring you the best thing in the house today! Go and sit there while I bring them to you two!"
Ash walked to the tables and Dawn followed him, putting her bag down first then sitting down. She looked around, intaking the surroundings even more. Her eyes landed on a picture frame behind Ash. It had photos of four girls, wearing swimsuits, on a beach. She asked Ash,"I recognise one as Daisy. Who are the other three?"
Ash asked,"What?"
"The photo behind you," She pointed and Ash turned back to take a look at the photo. He turned again to face Dawn,''They are Misty's sisters."
"Misty?"
"Oh!" Ash grinned,"You moved here after she had left school. She is one of my closest friends!"
"That's nice!" Dawn leaned forward, wanting to hear more,"So you both were in same section?"
Ash shook his head,"Naah, she was my senior. A year older."
She had heard that name before. Dawn suddenly remembered,"So the chemistry copy you gave me was of Misty?"
Ash nodded,"Yup."
Dawn was about to ask something when Ash said,"I have a question."
She blinked twice,"What?"
Ash was feeling uncomfortable to ask her the question but couldn't help it. He had to know,"I mean, what are we?"
Dawn eyed him curiously,"Humans? I guess." What was that stupid question?
Ash rolled her eyes at that remark and gave her a glare,"Seriously! Give me a proper answer!"
"I didn't get your question, for your information," she said, resting her chin on the palm of her hands as her elbows were on the table.
Ash shook his head in defeat as he broke down his words to make his question clear,"What are we? Are we friends? Are we enemies? Just acquaintances? Just classmates?"
Dawn was staring blankly at him, as if he had asked a stupid question. Maybe the question was stupid but he had to know. He had to hear it coming from her mouth.
She cleared her throat as she bit her lower lip,"What do you think we are? Just familiar faces?"
Ash didn't know what to say,"Uhh.."
She wondered. What were they? Dawn felt a small sting in her heart, did she do anything to make Ash mad? Yeah, she teased him all the time but he wasn't getting bored of her, was he? Was he thinking of breaking up their friendship? Was he not happy being with her? The more she thought about it, the more insecure she began to feel. She looked up to catch Ash looking at her with a nervous gaze.
"Ash," she took a deep breath,"I shared my deepest fears with you. You helped me when I was unable to stand up for myself. You annoy the hell out of me, you refused to leave me alone, you broke down my walls, you introduced me to friends like May and Leaf, you taught me how to have fun. Now you're asking what we are?! We are friends, no doubt about that. We are not just familiar faces."
Ash felt a wave of relief washing over him as he heard those words.
She continued,"Just familiar faces will never describe our relationship. You are a valuable friend of mine. Hopefully, I'm yours too."
Ash felt warmth bubbling up inside him as he heard those words. A small smile formed on his lips and the smile kept growing. He couldn't help but say,"Yeah. You are a valuable part of my life too, Dawn."
Ash noticed her lips curving up into a smile and at that moment, he could swear that he felt his life to be complete. 'Who cares if my feelings are returned or not,' he thought to himself,'What we have is precious.'
Dawn felt warmth and giddiness spreading all over her. She felt so ecstatic and happy that she couldn't stop smiling. Her face felt warm and she just wished to be this happy forever.
"Here you go," Daisy arrived with a tray containing desserts. She placed the chocolate parfait and mont blanc infront of Ash and a brownish pastry infront of Dawn.
"What is this called?" Dawn asked.
"This is on today's special menu," Daisy grinned widely,"Its called babka!"
"Bab-ka?" Dawn repeated Daisy's words, feeling unsure about the pronunciation.
"You can also call this potato pie," Daisy laughed, trying to ease Dawn up,"I am confident that you will like it so dig in!"
Dawn couldn't deny though. The pastry looked tempting and she couldn't help but say,"I am gonna start!"
One bite and Dawn could feel various flavours mixing and exploding in her mouth,"Its so good!"
Ash grinned,"I told you this place makes awesome sweets!"
Daisy laughed at their expression,"I am glad you all liked it!"
"So Daisy, how's everything going?" Ash asked with his mouthful.
"Eat then speak Mister," Dawn nudged him.
Daisy laughed and pulled a chair, saying,"Well, can I take a seat?"
"Go ahead," Dawn said,"Its your shop." She stopped for a while before realising,"That sounded so sarcastic! I am sorry! Of course you can sit!"
Daisy touched Dawn's shoulder to ease her up,"I know! Ease up, will you?"
Daisy sat down and Dawn breathed a sigh of relief. She really needed to make less sarcastic remarks.
"So, hows everything going?" Daisy asked.
"Everything is good. School is going well, Gary and Leaf started dating," Ash said.
Daisy grinned widely,"Really? Took that man long enough to confess."
Ash crooked his head,"You knew about Gary's feelings?"
Daisy passed him a look,"You didn't?"
Dawn passed him a smirk, saying,"I told you that you are a thick head."
Ash exhaled deeply, feeling stupid,"Man! Was I the only one who had no idea?"
Dawn nodded, giggling,"Yup."
Daisy laughed along with Dawn and said,"Well, Violet and Lily are in Vermilion city for a photoshoot and Misty came third in the district level swimming competition."
Dawn was surprised,"Misty is on the swim team?"
Daisy nodded,"She was a part of this town's swim team too. About ten months ago she left for district level competition and all."
"That's why I never heard the name on school register," Dawn nodded in understanding.
"And she is a year older to you guys so, she was a senior," Daisy clarified further,"So Ash, have you talked to Misty lately?"
Ash shook his head, denying it,"We last talked a few months ago when she visited during summer vacation. After that we kind of lost all contacts."
Daisy pouted,"So you have no info about her?"
Ash sheepishly rubbed the back of his head,"I just follow her on social media and know that she is doing well."
"Idiot," Daisy laughed,"I thought you would keep contact even if she was far. You had a crush on her, didn't you?"
Ash almost choked on thin air as he coughed to catch his breath,"Daisy shut up!" He looked up to see Dawn's expression who looked surprised and kind of shocked.
"Ash had a crush on Misty?" She asked, her lips parted in surprise.
Daisy nodded,"Yep. I don't think he realised that though. They were always together, playing and competing and bickering all the damn time!"
Dawn couldn't find the words to say. So the girl Gary and Leaf were talking about was Misty? That's why Ash couldn't say who he had a crush on? She felt a small jab in her heart and for a moment, she forgot why she was here.
"I didn't have a crush on her," Ash defended himself, totally embarrassed,"We were just good friends!"
He wanted to shout out that he was in love with Dawn but now Dawn had gotten it all wrong. Not only was she misunderstanding but also all his chances to dissolve the doubts were reduced greatly.
"That is nice, Misty is a nice girl from what I heard from others," Dawn added with a smile.
"Just leave it," Ash sighed, totally defeated,"But I'm telling you she is not the girl I've a crush upon."
Daisy raised an eyebrow at him,"So whom do you have a crush on?"
Ash realised that there was no escape from this trap. He couldn't just shout that the girl he had a crush on was sitting right infront of him. All he could say was,"No one! I am not interested in any one right now."
Dawn couldn't explain it but felt a strange relief washing over her on hearing those rds. Her lips formed a small smile as she stuffed her food into her mouth.
Daisy pouted,"So you have no info about her?"
Ash sheepishly rubbed the back of his head,"I just follow her on social media and know that she is doing well."
"Idiot," Daisy chuckled and got up," Well, the shop is going to be crowded soon so I better stay at the counter. If you need anything, just tell me."
Daisy walked away and Ash breathed a sigh of relief. He quickly said,"Don't believe her okay! She isn't serious."
Dawn raised an eyebrow, teasing him,"You don't have to explain the situation to me okay."
"Hey," Ash sighed in annoyance,"I don't want you to misunderstand anything!"
"As I told you," she looked straight at him,"You are not bound to answer me!"
"Come on," He massaged his temples in frustration,"Out of all people, you're the one I don't want to understand."
She felt a small blush forming on her cheeks as she asked,"Why?"
His heart was beating fast and felt his face heating up,"Because you're my friend and yeah, yeah.."
"You told me that you'll tell me who you had a crush upon before entering the shop. Now you told Daisy that you are not interested in anyone. What am I to believe?"
Ash whined loudly,"Daisy will keep teasing me if I say I have crush on someone so.."
"So you're crushing on someone," she asked and he exhaled deeply with a nod.
"And you're not going to tell me who she is, now?" She asked again and Ash nodded.
"Ugggh!" She pouted,"You're so mean!"
"You'll know who she is!" He gave her a wink,"Let the time come!"
"Seriously," Dawn rolled her eyes at him,"Do I even know her?"
Ash nodded,"Yup. And I'm not going to answer anything else."
"You're a very bad friend," Dawn pouted more.
"Tell me, do you have someone you like?" Ash asked, turning the tables on her.
"I like some movie stars but romantically, no," She said. Its not like she was looking for someone to start a relationship with. Leaf, May and Lyra were the few friends she had along with Ash, Drew and Gary. She didn't have time to think about love.
"That's a bummer," Ash said but sighed in relief,"So you have any particular type of boys you like?"
She thought hard before saying,"Who knows? I haven't fallen for anyone yet so who knows?"
They kept having their food in silence. Ash smiled inwardly. Atleast he didn't have a love rival! Moreover, she was curious about him and that gave him a little bit of hope.
Dawn felt her phone ringing and quickly pulled it out, thinking it was her mother. Her smile dropped on seeing the caller ID and she picked it up,"Hey Serena!"
Ash looked up on hearing Serena's name and watched as Dawn's expression turned from neutral to a frown to worried.
"Hospital?" Dawn asked and her expression turned even darker,"Yes, he is with me now. Yes, we are coming.. yes... Thank you..."
As soon as she put her phone down, Ash asked,"What happened!"
Dawn looked at him and said,"Well, don't freak out. Everything is fine.."
"Will you please tell me what happened?" Her nervous expression was making him even more tensed.
"Okay," Dawn tried to calm him down,"My mother and your mother are at the hospital. Your phone was unreachable so Serena called me. Your mother is fine, she just fainted and..."
"What?" He asked, confused,"Mom fainted?"
Dawn nodded and it took a while for Ash to register what was going on. His Mom was in the hospital and he had no idea. He couldn't breathe for a second and all bad scenarios began playing in his head.
Dawn quickly got up on seeing his wide eyed reaction. She shoved her belongings back into her nag and pulled out some money. Ash, who was still in a state of shock couldn't understand what to fo so she pulled him up, saying," Lets go."
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So it's been a while since I typed. The chapter is short and I am referring to this length. I am thinking of keeping the chapter length like this so that I can update frequently! The next update should be on my birthday and hopefully I can give you a brand new chapter on that day.
I've been thinking of starting a new series. Wel recently, I was watching remake of Aladdin on TV and it inspired me to write one pearlshipping Aladdin based story on my own. Would you guys like to read it? I am excited to write that so please tell me!
Twilight sparkle, I'm sorry I couldn't update on your birthday! Well, happy belated birthday though! I was so caught up in the moment that I couldn't spend any time on any of my stories, hope that you forgive me!
Till next time, DarkestLightOfHope
