I have chapter 26 up now! I was originally planning on finishing all three and then updating at the same time, but then I decided to just update this one so that at least there's something to read. It's kind of short, but considering what happens in this chapter, I think it's a pretty good length :) No idea when the next one will be up, or when i'll update the other stories so please don't nag me about it. It actually get really annoying after a while. I have a lot going on in my life right now so I'm not being lazy or anything, I just don't have time.
Anyways, see any typos, mistakes, grammatical errors etc, please let me know :)
Enjoy!
"So," Ash began as Leaf walked back towards him and Dawn "How'd he take it?"
"Well, he cried…" She trailed off before sighing "I feel so horrible about it…and on top of it all I had to remind him that it's his birthday."
Dawn slapped a hand over her mouth and her eyes widened as she realised something. Ash held the same expression, but he slapped a hand to his head instead of his mouth.
"Oh crap, in all the craziness of the funeral, his birthday completely slipped my mind." The raven-haired boy sighed "I'm such a horrible best friend."
"I can't believe I forgot too!" Dawn moaned "I never forget birthdays, in fact, when I first found out about the day of the funeral, I knew his birthday was on the same day."
"It's alright," Leaf attempted a weak smile "I think he forgot too because he was pretty surprised when I wished him." The brunette tucked a bit of hair behind her ear before changing the topic "So, what's going on with you guys?"
"Well, we're friends again." Dawn shrugged "I guess I finally realised that it was time to stop being a drama queen and get over it." She gave him a small smile "I'm willing to give you a second chance at friendship, but not at a relationship."
"Not yet, you mean." He corrected "Someday you'll take me back, I know you will."
"I'm going to go talk to your mum about something," Leaf told the bluenette, sensing that the ex-couple needed some time alone together "I'll see you guys later."
As soon as the brunette was out of sight, Dawn turned to face Ash "Hey, I was thinking…" She trailed off.
"Yeah?" He looked at her hopefully, praying that her hesitance meant she wanted to talk about them getting back together "What is it?"
"Do you wanna write another song together?" She questioned with a small smile "I mean, just one last song for old times sake."
"Oh…" His expression saddened, but only for a moment before turning back into a smile "I'd love to."
"Great!" She wrapped her arms around him, nuzzling her face inside his chest. It was an instinctive thing that she always with him, even when they were just friends back at Mesprit and Azelf. An obnoxious chuckle brought them out of their hug.
"Wow, so you decided to get back with Ashtard? I gotta say, your taste in boys is horrible." The bluenette snapped her head up and her eyes widened at the green-eyed boy in front of her. Ash on the other hand, groaned and rolled her eyes.
"Dawn, this is my irritating, asshole of a cousin: Drake." He gestured to the boy in front of them
"We've met." She mumbled softly while unconsciously bringing a hand to her bruised wrist
"You have?" The chocolate-eyed boy raised an eyebrow in confusion "When?"
"We came across each other on the cruise ship ride here." The fellow raven-haired boy explained "We had some…conflicting ideas."
It was then, that Ash noticed the bruise on his cousin's nose. He chuckled and pointed at him "Nice bruise, douchebag. Whose girl did you try make a move on this time?"
When the other two remained silent, Ash looked at the bluenette to see her holding her wrist and his eyes instantly flared with anger.
"You're the jackass that tried to rape her?" His voice was dangerously low as he clenched his hands into tight fists. "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" He raged, not caring that everyone was staring at the three.
"Hey," Drake shrugged, unaffected "Just 'cause you couldn't get her in bed, doesn't mean I couldn't have tri- " before he could even finish his 'explanation', Ash lunged at him, knocking them both to the floor and punching him in the jaw.
"HOW DARE YOU!" He punched him again, causing Dawn to shriek and jump back in fear. She'd never seen Ash so angry before.
"GET OFF ME!" Drake yelled back, grabbing Ash's shirt collar and twisted them so that he was on top. He attempted to punch him, but Ash turned his neck to the side, causing Drake's hand to come in contact with the ground.
Drew, May, Paul, Misty, Gary and Leaf came running then, along with Delia, Johanna, Professor Oak, Barry and a raven-haired woman who looked similar to Delia. Drew and Paul grabbed Ash, forcing him to get off Drake and held him back before he could attack the boy again while Gary pulled Dawn away from them and held her in a tight hug as she started to whimper in fear. She'd never seen him this angry before and to be honest, it was quite terrifying.
"Ash!" Delia yelled at her son in shock "What's wrong with you? How could you attack your own cousin like that?!" She then turned to the raven-haired woman "Chiara, I am so sorry. I don't know what's gotten into him."
The woman, Chiara, didn't respond as she ran over to Drake "Sweetie, are you alright? You didn't get hurt too badly did you?"
"He tried to rape Dawn!" Ash didn't let the other boy speak "This lowlife tried to rape Dawn on the ship ride here!" Everyone's eyes widened and Drew and Paul looked at each other, nodding once before releasing Ash from their hold.
The chocolate-eyed boy somehow managed to restrain himself from attacking his cousin again in front of his mother and aunt. He continued to glare at the other raven-haired boy, eyes still blazing as he growled in a deadly voice.
"Stay. Away. From. My girl. Got it?"
"Drake," Chiara, his mother, looked at him sternly "Is this true?"
"It's not like I actually did it." He grumbled irritably before pointing at Dawn accusingly "And her stupid friend almost broke my nose!"
"Hey! I am not stupid!" Barry yelled "You deserved for me to break your face. I went easy on you."
"Easy?" Drake snorted "Your attempt was pathetic."
"Really?" He narrowed his eyes and recoiled his fist backwards "If it was so pathetic, then how about I try again!" Just as he was about to bring it forward to make contact with the other boy's face, Johanna grabbed it and shook her head.
"Don't stoop to his level." The older bluenette then turned to Chiara "I really hope you teach your son to respect women before he lands himself in deep trouble. He's lucky to be related to Ash because that's the only reason I'm not going to press charges."
Chiara gave the woman an apologetic look before glaring at her son. She grabbed him by his ear and started to walk away, ignoring his cries of pain as she dragged him with her. Johanna let out a deep sigh and turned to face Ash.
"Why don't you take Dawn home, Ash? We'll fix everything up here and then join you."
"Sure." He nodded and took the younger bluenette's hand, leading her away from the others and towards his car. However, he stopped when he saw Chiara walk away from Drake, leaving him standing by himself "I'll be right back."
"Um…Okay?" He barely payed attention to her reply as he reached his cousin "Oi, Drake." He spat the boy's name like is was venom.
"What do you want Ashtard?" Drake turned to face him; his bright green eyes glaring daggers
"Okay, first off: Stop. Calling. Me. That." Ash growled, narrowing his eyes into slits "And second: Stay away from Dawn…and her friends too."
"And what if I don't, Ashtard?" Drake smirked "You can't expect me not to try and get some from a sex doll like he-" Before he could even finish what he was saying, Ash punched him right in the forehead, causing the fellow raven-haired boy to stagger backward until he fell to the ground unconscious.
"Don't you dare call her that again." He growled in a dangerous whisper, despite the other boy being unconscious, and then turned around and walked back towards Dawn.
As soon as he reached the bluenette, he took her hand and practically dragged her towards his car, opening the passenger door and helping her inside. He even went to the extent of buckling her seatbelt for her.
Once he had taken his seat and buckled his own belt, he looked at her sympathetically "You okay?"
"I'm fine," Dawn nodded "You just scared me a little back there. I never knew you could be so aggressive. First you attacked him and just now you knocked him unconscious." She looked at him in confusion "What happened?"
"Dawn," The raven-haired boy sighed and gave her a serious look "It took all of my self control back there not to strangle him to death." He ignored her surprised expression "When it comes to you, I would do anything to keep you safe…whether he's my cousin or not."
"Thanks, Ash," The bluenette smiled at him "That's really sweet of you." He nodded in response and started the car, reversing out of its spot and then turning it around so that they could head back home.
"You don't need to thank me." He stated simply as he pulled onto the main road. An awkward silence ensued with Dawn staring out the window and Ash staring straight ahead at the road. After about ten minutes, the raven-haired boy decided to end it "How about some music?"
"Sure." Dawn turned away from the window and nodded at him as he turned on the radio. A song had just ended and they both grinned at the next song that began to play "I love this song!"
"Hey, me too!" Ash turned up the sound as Dawn started to sing along to the words, shortly followed by him as he sang the male parts.
Dawn- Ah~ Ah~
You were the popular one
The popular chick
It is what it is
Now I'm popular-ish
Ash- Standing on the field
With your pretty
pom-poms
Now you're working
At the movies selling
Popular corn
I could've been a mess
but I never went wrong
'Cause I'm putting down my story in a popular song
Dawn- Ah~
I said I'm putting down my story in a popular song
The two smiled at each other before singing the bridge and chorus together, their voices melding together in perfect harmony.
Both- My problem
I never was a model
I never was a scholar
But you were always popular
You were singing
All the songs I
don't know
Now you're in the
front row
'cause my song is popular…
Popular
Ash- I know about popular
Both- It's not about
who you are
Or your fancy car
You're only ever who you were
Popular
Ash- I know about popular
Both- And all that
you have to do
Is be true to you
That's all you ever need to know
Dawn- So catch up
Both- 'Cause you've got a
long, long way to go
Dawn- So catch up
Both-'Cause you've got a
long, long way to go
A short instrumental played and Dawn bopped her head to the beat of the song as she sang her part before Ash sang his.
Dawn- Always on the lookout
For someone to hate
Both- Picking on me
like a dinner plate
Dawn- You hid during classes
And in between them
Both- Dunk me in the toilet
Now it's you that
cleans them
Ash- You tried to make me
feel bad
With the things you'd do
It ain't so funny
When the jokes on you
Dawn- Ooh
The jokes on you
Got everyone laughing
Got everyone clapping
Asking
How do you look so cool?
'Cause that's the only thing
that I learned at school
Ash- Uh-huh
Both- I said
That's the only thing that I learned at school
Both- My problem
I never was a model
I never was a scholar
But you were always popular
You were singing
All the songs I
don't know
Now you're in the
front row
'cause my song is popular…
Popular
Ash- I know about popular
Both- It's not about
who you are
or your fancy car
You're only ever who you were
Popular
Ash- I know about popular
Both- And all that
you have to do
is be true to you
That's all you ever need to know
Dawn- So catch up
Both- 'Cause you've got a
long, long way to go
Dawn- So catch up
Both- 'Cause you've got a
long, long way to go
As the song started to come to an end, Dawn's voice became more prominent until they sang the chorus one last time that started off with only part of the music and then the rest came back in.
Dawn- That's all you ever need to know…
Ah~
La-la-la
That's all you ever need to know…
Ah~
Ooh baby
Ah~
Ey-Ey
Ash- That's all you ever need to know…
Both- Popular
Ash- I know about popular
Both- It's not about
who you are
Or your fancy car
You're only ever who you were
Popular
Ash- I know about popular
Both- It's not about
who you are
Or your fancy car
You're only ever who you were
Popular
Ash- I know about popular
Both- And all that you
have to do
Is be true
to you
That's all you ever need to know
Dawn- That's all you ever need to know…
"This is such an awesome song!" Dawn couldn't help but laugh once they finished singing "Ariana Grande has an amazing voice."
"You know," Ash began "There are two things I've learnt from this song."
"What?" She looked at him curiously
"Their voices mix together perfectly." His voice then softened as he gave her a warm smile "Kind of like ours."
The bluenette blushed slightly "Yeah…What was the second thing you learnt?"
"Never mess with Ariana Grande." He shuddered slightly "The music video for this song actually made me afraid of her."
"What?" She raised an eyebrow "You're afraid of drinking a potion and getting turned to stone?"
"Hey, I think Mika was supposed to be her brother in that music video and she turned him to stone because he knocked over her block castle when they were kids."
"It's not real." Dawn rolled her eyes "It's just a video about them getting revenge on the popular kids who were total jerks to them."
"I'm still staying away from her. No matter how nice she is in person, I am never taking any drinks she may offer me."
"Oh, that's right," The girl's expression turned into one of realised "Since you guys are like a famous band and everything, you would've met her and other famous singers, and actors and actresses too."
"Yup," He nodded and pulled into the driveway of his home "We've met our fair share of celebrities in the past two years."
"You're so lucky!" She gushed while unbuckling her seatbelt and exiting the car as soon as he turned off the ignition "I would love to meet celebrities."
Ash sweat-dropped at her words and gestured to himself after getting out of his car "Hello…there's one standing right in front of you." He locked it before walking up towards the door "In fact, you dated one."
"You don't count," She waved him off and walked inside the house as soon as he unlocked the door "I've known you since before you were famous. Same with the other guys."
"And he's still madly in love with you, too." He whispered under his breath before following her inside "So, what are we supposed to do while we wait for our mum's to get back?"
"When I was talking to your mother before, she said that we'd be inviting Gary and his family, plus the girls, guys and Reggie over for dinner." She explained "So I was thinking that maybe we could make Gary a birthday cake?"
"He's not gonna be in the mood for celebrating." Ash sighed "No one will be."
"We don't have to celebrate. We won't put any candles on the cake." The bluenette insisted "Come on, the poor guy deserves something."
"I guess you're right." He nodded in agreement "Maybe it'll help cheer him up a little."
"Get out the flour for me, please?" The bluenette asked as she pulled out a few eggs from the fridge, along with milk and butter. She placed them on the countertop before finding a large plastic bowl and wooden spoon, plus an assortment of smaller metal spoon. "I need sugar and a deep, round pan as well."
"Alright," The raven-haired boy took out the ingredients and set them alongside the others "Anything else?"
"I need an electric mixer, if you have one."
"Yup," He nodded and pulled out the machine from the cupboard "What next?"
"We need to mix the butter until it's fluffy and then add the sugar."
He obeyed and watched as the bluenette put the butter into the mixer and turned it on, watching it sift through the stiff substance. After a few minutes, she stopped it and added the sugar before blending it again for another few minutes until she was sure the sugar grains had become dust and mixed through.
"Do you need me to do anything?" Ash questioned
"Sure, just put in the eggs and blend for a couple of minutes, then add the milk. Till then, I'll grease the pan with butter."
"Okay," He nodded and picked up the eggs while Dawn turned her back to him and began greasing the pan. It was only a minute later that she heard a crunching noise coming from the mixer.
"Ash, what's wrong with the mixer?" She walked over to him and eyed the machine "What's that sound?"
"I don't know," He shrugged "I just put the eggs in like you told me too." Dawn sweat-dropped
"Ash…" She said slowly "Did you crack the eggs?"
"Uh…Was I supposed to?" He scratched the back of his head sheepishly
"Oh my god, you are so hopeless!" She face-palmed "Just leave, I'll make the cake myself."
"What? Oh come on, it was one mistake, I'll take the egg shells out and it'll be fine." He stuck his hand inside the mixer and pulled out a few pieces of eggshell "See?"
"Eww! What the hell, Ash!" She looked at him in disgust "I can't use that batter now that you've stuck your hand in it!"
"So…what? You're gonna start all over again?"
"Well, I kind of have to now, thanks to you." She glared at the boy "Just go back to your room or something and let me cook in peace."
"Fine…" He grumbled and started to walk away but then realised that his hand was covered in batter. He made a disgusted face and shook his hands in an attempt to get it off him, result in a shriek from Dawn. When he turned to look at her, he saw cake batter splattered on her face "Crap."
"Ash!" The bluenette yelled "Have you not heard of a sink and tap!"
"I'm so sorry!" He ran back to her and took a paper towel to help wipe it off her face "You okay?" He asked after the last bit of batter was gone.
"Oh I'm just fine." She smiled sarcastically before dipping her hand in the batter and smothering it all over his face "Perfectly fine."
"You shouldn't have done that." An evil grin spread across his face as he grabbed more of the batter and threw it at her.
"Oh, this means war, Ketchum!" Dawn exclaimed as she threw more batter at him.
"A war that you'll lose, Berlitz!" Ash retorted as he grabbed a large amount in his fist and threw it so hard at her that when it hit her face, she stumbled backwards and slipped on a small blob of batter that was on the floor.
She let out a shriek as she braced for impact, but it never came as she felt two strong arms wrap around her. Dawn slowly opened her eyes and looked up to see Ash staring down at her in concern – their noses touching and lips barely a centimetre apart.
"You okay?" His lips grazed hers as he whispered
"I'm fine," A blush grew on the bridge of her nose as her lips grazed his as well "Thanks."
"No problem." Just as he was about to close the minimal distance between them, she pushed him away and shook her head.
"Friends, remember?" She sighed as she observed the mess they'd made of the kitchen "Let's just order a cake instead?"
"Right…friends." He whispered before nodding at her idea "Good idea. I'll get them to deliver it so that we can clean this in the meantime." There was a hint of sadness in his voice but Dawn ignored him, despite knowing the reason behind it.
Dawn gave a small sigh of content as she put her towel back on the rack and examined her new outfit. She had just finished showering and washing out all the cake batter from her body and hair and was now dressed in a sky blue tank top and white short-shorts.
Her hair was still a little wet from washing it so there were some parts of the top that were a darker shade. As she walked downstairs, she noticed Ash looking at his watch in irritation.
"What's up?" She questioned at his expression
"The cake delivery guy was supposed to be here ten minutes ago." He tapped his foot impatiently "The others could come back at any time and I don't want them to see the guy delivering the cake."
"Relax, Ash." The bluenette rolled her eyes and smiled "He's probably just stuck in some traffic or something. In the meantime," She eyed him over "Why don't you go shower since I'm done? You're still covered in cake batter and it's starting to dry."
"Yeah, thanks to you." He mock-glared at her before nodding and walking towards the stairs "He should be here soon so just keep an eye out for the doorbell, okay?"
"Sure," She nodded "Till then, I'll fix up anything else that might be out of place in the kitchen."
Once he disappeared up the stairs, she walked into the kitchen and examined the war zone it had become. Ash had wiped all of the cake batter from the floor and left the dishes in the sink, but the ingredients were still out on the table and the mixer still needed to be cleaned out as well.
"Well, might as well get started." She spoke to herself while grabbing the milk bottle and opening the fridge "The sooner this gets cleaned up, the better. I definitely don't want mum and Mrs Ketchum to see this."
She worked robotically, putting everything back where it belonged and wiping down the bench top. The process took about five minutes and then she went over to the sink to rinse the dishes and clean out the mixer. Just as she finished putting the bowls in the dishwasher, the doorbell rang.
"Finally." She mumbled to herself before exiting the kitchen and opening the door to reveal a blonde boy with sky blue eyes holding a large box in his hands. "You must be the cake delivery guy," the bluenette smiled "you're late, but thanks for bringing it here."
"You're welcome," He smiled back while eyeing her damp hair and slightly wet upper part of her tank top "that'll be twenty-nine ninety-five." Just as she was about to turn around and get the money, Ash's voice came from behind her.
"Dawn, is the guy here yet?" He appeared behind her with his wallet, now dressed in a white shirt that had yellow sleeves and neckline and a pair of denim jeans. The raven-haired boy smiled as he recognised the other boy in front of him "Hey! Scott, long time no see, how've you been?"
"Well, if it isn't 'Mr Famous Singing Sensation'!" The blonde, Scott, grinned and handed the cake to Dawn so he could hi-five his friend "What are you doing here?"
"I live here, you douche." He chuckled
"I know that." He rolled his eyes playfully before sadness filled them "I meant, why aren't you at Gary's parents' funeral? All of Pallet Town is there, why aren't y-" He stopped himself short when he noticed that both Ash and Dawn's hair was damp and their shoulders were wet. A sly smirk grew on his face "Did you just?" He didn't bother finishing.
"No, Scott, we did not just have shower sex." The raven-haired boy deadpanned "We had separate showers. And we did go to the funeral, I just brought Dawn back early because she was feeling sick."
"You sick minded creep!" Dawn's jaw dropped "If this cake wasn't so important, I would've smashed it in your face!" with that, she turned on her heel and stamped back inside the house.
"Bad move, buddy." Ash sweat-dropped "Thanks a lot, now I'm gonna have a very pissed off girl to deal with for the next few hours."
"You're welcome." He winked before chuckling "Just kidding, sorry, man. So what's going on between you two, anyway? Last I heard on MTV, you and Dawn are 'splitzville'." He quoted the channel's word.
"We're friends…for now." The raven-haired boy sighed "But she'll love me again – I know she will." A small smile grew on his lips before disappearing as he realised something "How come you're not at the funeral?"
"I wanted to come…really, I did." Scott sighed "But my stupid boss wouldn't let me because we still had a couple of orders to fill for today and he wanted to go to the funeral so I had to stay behind. Jerk." He rolled his eyes
"That sucks," Ash looked at the blonde sympathetically "but I'll send him your condolences. He'll be here for dinner tonight…that's why we got the cake."
"Oh god, it's his birthday, isn't it?" He slapped his forehead in realisation "What a perfect way to celebrate your twentieth birthday – have your parents' funeral on the same day." He said sarcastically before looking at his watch "I have to get going. I still have three more cakes to deliver before I can even think of seeing Gary. The cake's on the house, consider it my birthday gift to him."
"Sure thing," Ash nodded and smiled "It was great seeing you again, I'm here for two weeks so hopefully we can catch up once things die down a little."
"Definitely." The blonde nodded before waving goodbye and walking back towards his car. Once he left, Ash closed the door and leaned against it with a sigh.
It was nice seeing Scott again. He was one of Gary and Ash's best friends back when they were young but unlike the two, Scott didn't go on a pokémon journey. He decided to stay in Pallet Town and just live a normal life with his family and an eevee – that had now evolved into an espeon – to keep him company.
"Well…" He clapped his hands together once and slowly made his way towards the kitchen "Time to deal with a pissed off girl."
He was not looking forward to this.
Song used:
'Popular Song' by Ariana Grande and Mika
Really good song guys, you should definitely listen if you haven't already and I find the video clip so funny XD
Anyways, how was the chapter? Drake came back :) and revealed himself to be Ash's cousin and got owned by him too XD he totally deserved it though. Ash is such a screw up when it comes to cooking, and they almost kissed too! unfortunately Dawn is very strict on the 'just friends' thing :( I'm so evil, aren't I?
This chapter was pretty much about Ash and Dawn but the next one will have everyone else in it. No idea when that's going to come up though :/ Can't promise anything so please don't hassle me. You should be glad I didn't leave you with a cliffhanger for that reason :) As for my other stories, they may be updated within the next month but I give no guarantees.
Thanks for reading and please review :)
ShadowkittyxX