AU (Alternative universe)
Ash isn't dense
They're adults
"Thank you for visiting and welcome again!" Serena said happily as the young woman left the store with a smile, carrying a pack of gift cards, papers, and other small parcels. She sighed as the door closed and leaned on her chair on which she sat.
This had been a busy day, like everyone else before. But it was clear, as November was coming to an end and Christmas was approaching. And for gift shops like the one Serena owned, the time was busy.
Serena got up from her chair and paddled through the store to the door. She turned the "Open" sign upside down, now reading "Closed" and then stepping across the store to the staff side. She packed her belongings, took off her jacket, and then put everything in order on the side of the store before she turned off the lights and left the store, and stepped into the frost evening.
She locked the shop door and then went for a walk towards her home. She would shiver a little and put her hands covered in mittens in the pockets of her coat. The frost had clearly colder than the morning. Serena glanced up and saw a few stars among the tall apartment buildings in the city.
However, she did not see the clouds she wanted, but the sky was clear and it made Serena a little sad in some way. She would have wished for snow that had not yet been seen this year. She walked along the sidewalk, and people of all kinds walked against her. Although the evening was dark, the city was brightly lit, so it didn't bother.
Serena admired in her mind the beautiful shop windows of shops and shops with beautiful Christmas-themed decorations. The facades of the shops had also been decorated beautifully with various strips of light, and Serena noted decorate of her own shop also beautiful.
She slid among the human sea and then turned onto a road that passed a small park. She walked along the sidewalk until she came to the park and then stopped.
She walked through this route every day, but she had never happened to walk through the park. She had always passed it just along the sidewalk. Now, however, Serena felt something in the park pulling her toward it, so she stepped in through the park gate, adorned with a beautiful green and thick vine, and set out to walk along a path lit by lantern pillars.
She walked slowly down the path and looked around. The park looked like an ordinary city park with lights, trees and grasslands, and flowering in the summer. A few people walked against her with their dog, but otherwise, the park was very quiet.
However, that didn't bother Serena. She enjoyed being allowed to walk in peace on a path lit by trees and lantern pillars. However, she was so in her thoughts that she did not look where she put her feet. So she didn't notice the frozen puddle in the middle of her path.
She stepped on the ice and felt her feet slip under it. She would have fallen on her back if someone hadn't caught her and said, "Carefully. That point in the path is pretty slippery. "
She opened her eyes, which she had instinctively closed, and found herself leaning against someone's arms. Strong arms, she noticed. Her helper helped her stand back and Serena turned to see who had saved her.
She found herself staring at the two auburn eyes that looked at her with twinkles. The eyes, on the other hand, belonged to a young man, about the same age as her, who looked at her with a smile.
"You have to be careful, the path can be slippery," the man said and Serena nodded. At the same time, she moved the honey-blonde hair lock away from her sparkling blue eyes and felt the red rose on her cheeks. At the same time, she secretly stared at the man, and realized she liked his appearance.
The man had slightly messy, black hair and had peculiar, lightning-shaped marks on his cheeks. He grinned and a grin revealed his white teeth. He was wearing a blue winter coat, blue jeans, and red sneakers and he held his hands in the pockets of his coat.
"T-thank you," Serena stammered and the man nodded. "No problem," he said, and Serena said, stuttering a little, "Uh... I'll leave here then to continue my journey to my home. Goodbye"
"Do it and then watch out for the ice," the man said with a smile and Serena nodded and turned to leave. She went to step away without looking away, and therefore did not notice that the man was left to stare after her.
****
That encounter was indelibly in Serena's mind. She no longer got the black-haired man out of her mind after that and found herself thinking about him every day. The man's auburn eyes swirled in her head and she found herself thinking about how strong the man's arms had been.
Serena was annoyed that she had not asked the man's name. She hadn't told herself either, not in it. However, after that day, she began to walk through the park every day, hoping to meet this mysterious man again, but she knew the probability of it was very small. But nothing prevented her from dreaming.
About a week after the encounter, Serena walked through the park again. The air was again sharp and clear, as it had been all the previous week. However, the snow had not been heard, and the weather forecast had not promised it.
However, Serena hoped the matter would change soon. She loved snow and winter, and especially at Christmas, the snow was very nice to her. She hoped that the first snow would rain soon.
Serena again walked along the same path she had walked home for the past seven days. Now, however, she was careful not to step on anything like ice so as not to fall again.
She looked at the lampposts around which light ribbons had now been wrapped, and wondered if she might ever encounter the man who had rescued her again. What would be the probability if she encountered him again on this same path?
Suddenly something moved by a nearby tree and Serena instinctively turned her gaze in the direction of the sound. She saw a small, gray squirrel running along a tree trunk and she smiled. Squirrels had always been funny animals for her and seeing that little gray squirrel brightened up her evening strangely.
However, seeing the squirrel caused Serena not to look where she stepped and soon found herself lying on her stomach on the ground. Her wrist hurt a little, she guesses she had taken a collision with it. She cursed herself for not noticing looking at the ground for frozen spots and then she heard a voice she had not expected to hear.
"I told you to be careful," came the voice behind her and Serena froze. She swirled around quickly and saw the same dark-haired man who had saved her last time. The man looked at her, but her expression was not reproachful or angry at all, and Serena saw her smirking at her.
"Let me help you up," the man said and held out his hand to Serena. Serena grabbed it, a little embarrassed that she was lying on her stomach on the ground, and the man pulled her up. However, his pull was a little too strong, so Serena stumbled against his chest.
She felt her cheeks flush a little and she stepped quickly further away. "Sorry," the man said apologetically and Serena glanced at his face and saw the tinge of pink on the man's cheeks. However, she shook her thoughts away and said, "It doesn't matter. Thanks for saving me, again. I am otherwise Serena, who are you?"
"I'm Ash," the man said and held out his hand in salute. Serena grabbed it and noticed that the man's grip was tight and brisk. She greeted the man and then said, "Well, I guess I have to go. The home waits." She turned to leave, but then Ash suddenly exclaimed, "Wait. Could I take you home?"
Serena turned back to him and said slowly, "Well, hmm... Yes, I guess it's okay, it's just a little long way there."
"It doesn't matter," Ash said and stepped beside Serena. "I'm happy to walk with you. So, shall we go?"
Ash escorted Serena to the door of her home. Serena thanked him and watched from the door as Ash set out to walk away. She closed the front door and set off from the stairs to her apartment.
At the same time, she wondered would she see Ash again. And if she would, hopefully it wouldn't be again because she had fallen to her face on the ground again.
****
The next day, Serena closed her shop in the normal way and set off for her home and at the same time the park. There had been no great change in the weather, it was perhaps a little colder than the day before, but the snow was still not visible.
Serena glanced at the sky again and saw a few stars and a crescent moon from behind the roofs of the houses, which shone brightly. The clouds, on the other hand, were not visible and Serena sighed. The snow should wait a while longer.
Serena turned again from the familiar intersection toward the park and wondered where Ash could live. And if he had a partner, popped into her mind, but then she realized what she had thought and shook the thought away quickly.
Stop thoughts like that, you don't even know anything but name about him, she commanded herself, but at the same time thought that Ash's smile had been pretty cute. Now, Serena, you stop thinking like that!
She walked briskly towards the park and saw a familiar figure at the gate. She stopped and blinked. Was it..?
Yes, it was. Ash stood at the gate and clearly seemed to be waiting for someone. Serena didn't really know what to think, so she set off again and stepped a little slower towards the park and the familiar but still very unknown person standing at its gate.
Ash clearly heard her coming as he turned his gaze in her direction. Seeing Serena, a wide smile spread across his face and he said happily, "Hi Serena! Nice to see you again!"
"Hi Ash," Serena said a little hesitantly and walked over to the man. This didn't seem to have changed in any way, Serena noticed. The same blue winter coat and the same red sneakers. Only the jeans were different colors, they were now black instead of blue. "How did you know to wait for me here?"
"Well, I thought you had to go through this to your home and I was right. So, I decided to surprise and wait for you so I could walk with you," Ash explained, scratching his neck a little nervous.
Serena blinked at the explanation, and then said with a slight smile, "You were right, I'm going through this to my home." Then she felt a little blush as she continued, "And I find it a funny surprise when you decided to wait for me here"
"Really? Nice to hear," Ash said, a little surprised, then nodded at the park. "Shall we go? I'm starting to get a little cold at this stand."
"Yes," Serena said and they set out together to walk along the same path that Serena had always been used to in the last few days to walk home from work.
****
From that evening on, Ash waited every night for Serena at the park gate and Serena began to look forward to those evening walks. They walked through the park every night and at the same time talked a little bit about everything.
Among other things, Serena learned that Ash had a cat named Chu and a frog named Ninja. She also learned that Ash was the only child in his family, his parents were divorced, and that he lived alone.
And soon Serena realized she knew a lot more about Ash than she had even dared to imagine. She fell in love with his happy and energetic personality and the fact that Ash seemed helpful and kind to everyone he met.
She learned to love his wide smile that seemed to appear on the man's face every time he looked at Serena. She learned to love those auburn eyes that seemed to twinkle every time she looked at them.
She learned to love his messy, black hair and laugh at his attempts to smooth it out. And soon she realized she had a crush on - no, she was in love - with that man she had only known for about three weeks.
And what made it even better was that Serena could see similar signs of Ash as well. They had begun to hold each other's hand as they walked through the park, and Serena had often noticed from the corner of her eye Ash had stared at her as she had turned her gaze away for a moment.
These thoughts made the butterflies in Serena's stomach flutter even louder and she wondered how she would properly confess her feelings for Ash.
****
It was December 19th and Serena had just taken care of the last customers. She quickly put her store in order and then quickly took off her jacket, bag, and turned off the store's lights. She quickly locked the door of her shop and then almost ran to run towards the park. She couldn't wait to see Ash again. She hadn't seen him at all over the weekend and she was excited to hear Ash's voice again and hear his day.
She quickly arrived at the park gate, but to her surprise, she didn't see Ash waiting in front of it, as he used to be. Serena felt the disappointment grow inside her, but she decided to stop it from taking power. He's probably just a little late, Serena thought resolutely and stepped next to the gate to wait.
But as the minutes passed and changed into hours, and Ash didn't come, Serena had to admit he didn't seem to be coming today. She still decided to wait another five minutes, just to be sure, while changing her weight from one foot to the other.
It was a very cold frost evening and standing still had made Serena freeze. She wrapped her arms around her, thus trying to warm herself, and saw her breath misting in the air. It wouldn't be nice to spend the night outside, she thought and shivered again.
Five minutes passed, but Ash was still not visible. Eventually, Serena had to admit to herself that he wasn't coming today and, disappointed, she took her bag and set off for her home, alone.
****
Ash did not arrive the next, nor the following evening. Serena had tried to call him, but Ash hadn't answered and Serena wondered what had happened to him. Her mind began to rub off more and more when Ash didn't show up at the gate even on the fourth day, and when a few of Serena's regular customers pointed out to her that she looked tired, she had to admit that she was really starting to worry.
Christmas Eve finally came and Serena wished Ash would have appeared at the gate even then. After all, it was Christmas Eve! But when Ash didn't show up again, Serena decided, disappointed, to go to a cafe to drown her grief over hot cocoa and Christmas cake.
She was not amused to go to her apartment alone, moreover, she would have to pack up, as she would go to the countryside by train tomorrow to spend Christmas with her mother. It would be a joy far away from that Christmas, though, she thought dryly and set off, walking to the cafe she knew was nearby.
She arrived at the cafe and looked at its facade. She felt like happy Christmas lights, and the upper side of the door laughing reindeer ornaments was deliberately laughed in her grief. Sour, she pushed open the door and heard the bell rang above the door.
She stepped into the cafe, where she heard a cheerful rumble. Although the clock was already approaching eight o'clock, there were still crowds in the café.
Serena glanced around her in a merry Christmas-decorated cafe and looked for a suitable corner table where she could depress in peace. But instead of a corner table, her gaze found something completely different.
She saw a very familiar person sitting at one of the middles opposite a pretty, orange-haired girl. This person, named Ash, happened to laugh at something the girl was telling and Serena felt a piece in her throat grow.
She saw the girl handing something to Ash and Ash accepted it. But as she handed this something out, the girl happened to see Serena staring at them and froze immediately.
Ash noticed a change in his companion's look and turned to look in the direction of her gaze, saying, "Misty, what now?" He had time to see a honey-blonde-haired girl rush out of the cafe and that was enough to tell him who had been staring at them.
"Serena!" he exclaimed as he stood up and a few in the cafe turned to look at him with interest. Ash felt his hands clenched into fists, and he heard people whispering with interest in each other, watching the situation.
"You better go after her," an orange-haired girl, named Misty, said quietly and Ash nodded.
"Yeah," he said and smiled tightly at Misty. "Thank you for helping me. Without you, I would not have known what to do."
"You don't have to thank me, that's what friends are for," Misty said quietly and Ash found himself nodding. "But go now. I don't want her to suffer any more than she has to."
"You're right," Ash said, then quickly left the cafe, with Misty left to stare after him. Hopefully, he knows where to go, she thought, and then took a sip of her cocoa that had been in front of her.
As she drank it, she felt people staring at her and she snapped, "And what are you doing?! Didn't the mother teach you that it's bad to interfere in the affairs of others without permission?" It urged those present to turn their gaze away and soon the cafe was taken over again as a familiar rumble.
****
Serena sat on the cold bench of the park and tears flowed silently down her cheeks. She should have guessed. Everything had been far too good to be true. Why had she even imagined that Ash would have liked her, Serena? That orange-haired girl in the cafe had been looking much more interesting, of course, Ash was more interested in her.
Serena wiped her tears from her mittens and felt something cold and white hover over her nose. She blinked in amazement and looked up. She saw gray clouds in the sky from which white, light snowflakes had slowly begun to fall. Serena watched as one hovered over her mittens and felt how even the weather deliberately wanted to bully her in the rain in the first snow at that very moment.
"Serena!" she heard someone shouting her name and she looked up and saw no one but Ash running towards her. Her expression darkened. What the hell did Ash want from her now and where had he left his orange-haired chick?
Ash got to her and Serena said coldly, colder than the surrounding air, "Hi Ash. So you finally came to me." Ash seemed confused for a moment by her tone of voice, but then took a look of regret on his face and began to explain, "Sorry Serena, I didn't want to leave without saying anything, but I didn't want the surprise to be ruined and I needed the help of a few people and.. "
"I see," Serena interrupted coldly, but at the same time, her curiosity had awakened. What surprise was Ash talking about? "That's what you say. Where is by the way your girlfriend? Or did you leave her, just as you left me?"
"Girlfriend? Who are you really talking about?" Ash asked in confusion and Serena snapped, "The orange-haired girl you were there in the cafe with! The one who gave you something. For someone who looks a hundred times more interesting than me!"
"You mean Misty? She's not my girlfriend," Ash said after realizing who Serena meant and Serena was amazed. She wasn't Ash's girlfriend? "Besides, I don't think you're looking bad at all, in fact, you're pretty beautiful."
"Oh," Serena said, embarrassed and felt the red rise to her cheeks. In her mind, she had only one thought and it was: Ash had called her beautiful? "But then why were you there with her in the cafe?"
"She gave me this," Ash said, digging a beautifully packaged package from his pocket. He handed it to Serena and Serena received it in confusion.
"She said she found it somewhere and said that based on what I told about you, you came up with it in her mind. So, she gave it to me so I could give it to you as a Christmas present," Ash explained and scratched his right cheek. He had blushed a little "I didn't mean to give it that way"
"Oh," Serena said again, looking at the gift. It was wrapped in yellow gift wrap and had a red gift string set decorated on it. It was a very beautiful package in its own simple way and Serena asked curiously, "Can I open it now?"
"Sure," Ash said with a nod, and Serena gently took the bow off the top of the package and then opened the gift, being careful not to tear off too much yellow wrapping paper. She then opened the lid of the package and gasped when she saw what was inside.
A beautiful blue silk ribbon rested on the package and had a handwritten card on it. Serena took the card and read what was written on it:
"Serena, I think this ribbon fits perfectly in your blue eyes. Hopefully you like it. Merry Christmas, Ash.
P.S. I'm sorry that I didn't appear at the time to the gate to wait for you. I can explain it to you if you want"
"Misty told me to write that card, I probably wouldn't have figured it out myself," Ash said with a chuckle as Serena dropped the card from her hand and took the ribbon in her hand.
A few snowflakes dropped on it and she heard Ash continue, "Yeah, and Misty packed it too. That's why she handed it to me at the cafe then. In fact when I'm not very good at packing. But, what do you say?"
Serena knew exactly what to say. "It's beautiful, thank you Ash!" she exclaimed and to Ash's surprise, she hugged him tightly.
He was a little surprised by Serena's gesture, but recovered quickly and then patted the girl a little awkwardly on the back. "You're welcome, I am glad that you like it," he said quietly and Serena take a step back, and she felt how her cheeks glowed red.
****
They walked along a very familiar path in the park, and the snowfall kept getting harder as they walked there. They held each other's hands and Serena wondered how she would present her next thing.
However, she did not have to present anything, for suddenly Ash stopped and said, pointing to a lamppost, "Look, mistletoe"
Serena looked up and true. A mistletoe branch had been wrapped around the lamppost and Serena blushed as she watched it.
They soon found themselves standing exactly under the mistletoe and Serena found herself looking directly into Ash's auburn eyes.
"You know what people tend to do under a mistletoe.." she began and she felt her heart pounding in her chest. Ash looked at her with his auburn eyes and Serena noticed that their faces were very close together.
"I guess I know," Ash said, then leaned closer to Serena, putting his hand on the girl's hips. Then he smiled and pressed his lips gently against the girl's lips. Serena responded to the kiss and wrapped her arms around Ash's neck and felt Ash pull her closer.
The blue silk ribbon that Serena had tied into her hair shone brightly against Serena's honey-blond hair and the first snow rained quietly from the sky as they kissed under the mistletoe.