Hiii everyoneee! It's been like two whole years and a half since i updated this story...and at first, when i came back to this site, I had no inspiration to write anything whatsoever. Also, when I started this fic, i was only 13 or 14 years old, about to start high school. Now i'm 16, a junior in high school. Time sure does fly :O

Also I deleted my author's note on Sept 20th, but some of you thought I had updated chapter 2, when really chapter 2 was updated A LONG TIME AGO XD but I still appreciate everyone's reviews :D I recently got back into writing after publishing my first pearlshipping one shot (which you guys should check out btw) and getting good feedback on it. Sooo i thought I would go back and update this story!

Okay I realize that votes are STILL in, and amourshipping is still in the lead. I've decided that I'm gonna close the voting line on October 30th. So if you still haven't voted, go ahead and visit my profile to do so :D

Presenting chapter 3!

Ask Ketchum-the raven haired boy she had briefly dated during her summer vacation. She had met him in the mall one day when she had bumped into him accidentally while looking for a decent top. He had dropped his wallet unknowingly, but the blonde haired teen had been kind enough to return it to him. He had given his heart-warming smile as his gratitude, and Serena knew she was instantly head over heels for him.

He had offered a cup of coffee, naively assuming that it was just a friendly gesture, but for Serena, it was regarded as her first date. Well, it wasn't official, but she'd like to think it was. In just a half hour, she had already known so much about him-his likes, dislikes, a bit of his childhood (an unforgettable moment was when he ate those brightly colored pills when he was just six, thinking it was candy). She wanted to know more. He intrigued her.

After that first encounter, she met him again while strolling around at the beach. And that had given her a reasonable excuse to gawk at his bare chest (not when he was looking, that would have been creepy). He didn't have a six pack, but he was definitely decently built for a sixteen year old. He seemed pleased to see her again, and invited her to a friendly game of volleyball.

Eventually, the two became friends. However, the obvious crush that Serena had on Ash wouldn't stop growing every time she saw him. In fact, she was a bit surprised he was too naive to notice.

One day, she surprised him. She had invited him to the movies together. Of course, the raven haired boy wouldn't refuse her offer. Sometime while in the movie, Serena's hand would intentionally touch Ash's fingers, and what was really surprising but not displeasing was that Ash had interlocked their fingers together, causing Serena's heart to go on overdrive. When intermission had arrived, the two had rushed out of the movie theater and that was where Serena came clean and bold. She kissed him on the lips, absolutely terrified of rejection and change, but when he kissed her back, she had never felt so elated and alive before.

The two were officially together; Serena was happy and so was Ash. Serena had told Dawn about him briefly while she was vacationing in Hoenn for the summer, and Dawn had been happy for her best friend.

Unfortunately, it all came crashing down when Ash told Serena he had to move to Kanto. Deep down, she was crushed, knowing what this meant. She wasn't the type for long distance relationships which seldom worked out. Ash had told her there was nothing he could do about it. So they decided to break it off. They were both heartbroken. Hurt. Confused.

But, Serena was still hopeful.

Of what? She didn't entirely know. Maybe she was hopeful of seeing him again; maybe she was hopeful of another relationship with him again.

So when she currently saw him at her party...she knew her hoping didn't prove to be futile.

He was actually there at her party, in Kalos, in her house.

"Serena?"

She blinked in response, and looked at the source of the voice. "Yeah?"

May frowned. "What's wrong? You seemed lost in thought for a second or two..."

Serena pressed her lips in a thin line. Was she really dazed into her thoughts for that long? She sheepishly scratched her hair. "Oh...oops."

The ebony haired boy stared at the familiar face for a while, until he asked, "Is everything alright?" he asked, noticing Serena flinch at the question. She hadn't expected him to talk to her; in fact she assumed he would try to avoid her. His brown chocolate eyes displayed concern.

She managed a small smile. "Yeah, I'm fine!" she responded cheerfully, clapping her hands and trying to ignore Ash's presence. "Let's get back to the party, we were playing a game, weren't we?"

She noticed frowns on almost everyone's faces. Which meant most people here were concerned about her, not the stupid little game. Before Serena could utter a word, her cell phone rang. She noticed the caller ID. Dawn.

"Hello? Dawn, where are you?" she made sure she was in a spot that was out of earshot. "It's been an hour now," she said.

There was silence on the line, followed by her heavy breathing. "Dawn? Are you there?" She was pretty sure she heard her whimper a bit, and Serena's eyes widened. "What happened?! Where are you?"

Dawn's voice was weak. "S-sherman 23rd street..."

"Don't worry, Dawn, I'll come get you. Just please stay safe and don't move," she said and then hung up. She sure hoped that Dawn wasn't in any kind of danger; she'd be a terrible friend at the moment if she didn't look for her immediately. With that thought in mind, she walked back to where everyone was. "Okay, guys, my friend Dawn needs some help right now, so I'm going to go see what's up. But don't worry, you guys continue enjoying the party."

"What happened to Dawn?" May asked worriedly. Dawn was in some of her classes, and the brunette wasn't exactly friends with her, but she still cared enough to know.

"I'm not sure, but I have to go now," she said, frowning.

"Someone should go with you, you can't go alone, Serena," the chartreuse headed-male, Drew, said. "I think it's kinda dangerous to be alone at this hour..." he added.

Serena sighed. He did make a point. It was already eight'o'clock, and Lumoise was a kind of dangerous city. No doubt, it would be unsafe to wander the streets this late. She needed somebody to tag along with her.

"I'll go," Ash said, suddenly, resulting in the honey blonde haired girl's eyes widening. As she looked at him, she knew that Ash's decision was final. Plus, she always knew he was the type of guy to help others, even if it did involve your own ex.

She didn't have much time to think how awkward this would be, but Dawn was way more important now. "Okay, let's go," she said without hesitation.

A couple hours earlier...

The blunette was placing hair clips and brushing her bangs in front of her mirror when her mother, Johanna opened her daughter's door. "Hey, sweetie."

Dawn looked at her mother and placed the brush down on the bedside table. "Hey mom," she said, smiling. She backed away from the mirror, and twirled around. "What do you think, mom?" she asked. She was wearing a short red dress that hugged her body tightly. Her long white creamy legs were on display and was finished off with some black high heels. Her red lipstick stood out the most though.

"Dawn, this is way too revealing. I gave you permission to go to a party, not a strip club," her mom deadpanned.

"Mom!" Dawn exclaimed. "What's the big deal? I'm not even-"

"I want you to change into something more appropriate right now," she cut off. Dawn's jaw dropped, as Johanna searched through her closet. After a few seconds, she pulled out a long light blue dress that ended all the way to the ankles. Dawn gaped at this; this was a horrible dress, it was her grandma's present. And yeah, she had been thankful but she'd never wear something like this to a high school party.

"Are you insane, mom? There is no way I'm wearing this," she crossed her arms.

"I am your mother, Dawn. And while you live under my roof, you follow my rules. You'll wear this dress to the party, and I mean it," she said sternly. "Change now," she ordered closing the door behind her.

Dawn groaned irritably before locking the door and lying down on the bed in defeat. Her mother was so annoying sometimes, given how strict she was. It took a lot of convincing for Dawn to be granted permission to even go to the party. She sighed. Her mom had never let her do anything fun; she even had a curfew at 10pm, and if Dawn were to ever break her rules (well, she did one time), she'd get a whooping of a lifetime.

She looked back at the blue dress that was laying beside her.

Not today. Enough was enough.

...

After a few minutes, a knock could be heard. Dawn opened the door, and Johanna seemed satisfied seeing her daughter in the blue dress she asked her to wear. "You luck much better," she smiled. "Thank you for listening," she said, hugging her tightly.

What she didn't know was that she had just thrown the light blue dress over her red dress. Fortunately, the dress couldn't be noticeable, and the blue dress hid it perfectly. She'd plan to go over to Serena's place and change out it. "Mhm," she replied. "Can I go now?"

Johanna released and looked at her. "Sure, but remember you're only going to stay there for a couple of hours."

Dawn nodded, but mentally groaned. She was sixteen for Arceus's sake. This was the time to enjoy being a teenager, but her mom always ruined it. Regardless, she was thankful that she was even allowed to go to the party and let her mind divert to that.

Dawn was at the front door and she grabbed her purse that was hanging there. "Bye mom," she said.

"Bye, sweetie. Have fun."

Ironic she said that.

Dawn lived a couple of blocks away from Serena. It was about a fifteen minute walk, so Dawn tried to keep herself busy as she listened to her headphones. 'Side to side' by Ariana Grande echoed in her ears as she hummed the tune, while walking. It was currently six thirty, hopefully she didn't miss much of the party. This was supposed to be the hottest party of the year, even though school literally just started and realistically there really shouldn't be a party at all.

Eh, screw it. She was just being a nerd right now. It was the time to let loose and not worry about academic stuff.

She was secretly hoping to see Ash there. He had been the one to invite her, so her wanting to catch a glimpse of him couldn't be unreasonable. Of course, she wouldn't go up and straight up talk to him, considering she was terrible at talking to guys in general, especially cute guys. Maybe she harbored a little crush on the guy, but it was pretty much nothing to worry about. She had plenty of little crushes on guys here and there, but she'd never confess-simply because she was always afraid of getting rejected.

But Serena on the other hand had more luck with guys. She's had about two serious relationships. There was this one guy named Clemont who she had dated for her sophomore year in high school. But they had to break it off because Serena claimed that it wasn't working anymore. Then there was this other guy, Trevor, who was cute and chubby; he had a humor that made her go wild in laughter. They dated for about six months until Trevor broke up with her.

Serena would always be the more confident one.

Dawn was lost in her thoughts, and she suddenly didn't notice the tugging of her purse from behind until a few seconds later. She gasped and turned around, to see a tall man dressed up in all black. A black ski mask concealed his identity. She clutched onto her purse tightly. "W-who are you? Stay away from me!" she exclaimed, her knees already wobbling and her voice trembling with fear.

"Hand me your purse sexy and I'll be on my way." Dawn could practically hear the smirk in his tone.

Dawn refused to give in. "No," she said, clutching onto the purse tightly. She saw him getting closer, and she gulped. Now that she thought about it, maybe giving her purse would have just been easier, at least she could be safe. She gasped when the man pulled out a knife, and she gasped when the felt the cold metal against her neck.

"Just gimme the fuckin purse and I'll let you go," he said again, threateningly. Tears were flowing down her cheek like a river, and before he could do anything, she handed him the purse. "And gimme that ring and earrings." Dawn didn't hesitate this time and took off the said jewelry before handing it to the conniving thug. He smirked. "Girls are so easy," he said menacingly before he kissed her on the cheek. "You're a cute little thing, how bout we go in a nice place and I fuck you reaaal good?"

Now Dawn was pissed. She instantly brought her hand up and slapped the man across his face. "You fucking sicko!" she yelled, and without any other word turned against her heel and was about to walk away when his hand gripped her wrist tightly. "Let go!" she screamed as she tried to pry herself free, but he was a lot much stronger than she was.

"You bitch," he spat angrily, and before he could do anything, the two heard police sirens, and thug cursed before releasing her grip. But before Dawn could escape, the thug injected something sharp into her neck before running off.

Dawn cried in pain, her eyes closing before she fell onto the ground, everything turning black.

Both Ash and Serena were quickly able to find Dawn, who was sprawled onto the floor. They both gasped her name. "Dawn!" Serena was the first one to reach out to her, however, the blunette was knocked out unconscious. "Dawn, wake up!"

"We need to get her to a hospital," Ash quickly suggested. "I'll call the ambulance," he said before pulling out his phone.

"Good idea," Serena said before looking at Dawn. She couldn't believe her best friend was in this situation. She really hoped she'd be okay eventually.

Ash noticed a bit of blood oozing out from Dawn's neck, and scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. "She's bleeding," he said, and Serena raised an eyebrow before he pointed to her neck. The honey blonde gasped as she covered her palm with her mouth. "Someone must've injected her with a drug or something."

"Bastard," she cursed. "Who would do such a thing?" she asked rhetorically. "And how did she call me up if she was unconscious?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, maybe she called you when she woke up but then fell unconscious after."

Before Serena could reply, they both heard the ambulance blaring as it parked on the corner of the street. Some men came out through the back doors and placed Dawn on a stretcher. Ash and Serena took seats somewhere in the front before the ambulance sped on the road to the hospital. Serena looked back at Dawn worriedly, a frown on her face. She was a little surprised when Ash put a hand on hers. "Don't worry, she'll be fine."

The honey blonde smiled at the attempt of making her feel better.

Ash and Serena were in the waiting room at the hospital for about a half hour, waiting for Dawn to regain consciousness again. Serena was busy pacing around, and despite Ash not really knowing much about Dawn, he was a bit worried as well. He wondered what all had happened to her just before she came to the party.

Soon enough the doctor came out, and both Ash and Serena looked at him, waiting. "Well before I mention anything, how are you two related to Dawn?"

"We're her friends," Ash replied for both him and Serena.

The doctor nodded. "Well, I'm going to have to call her parents, do either one of you know her parents' contact information?" Serena nodded, and gave the doctor the number, before he wrote it down.

"Doctor?" Ash asked. "Is Dawn okay?"

Fortunately, the doctor smiled. "She'll be fine. However, it appears someone injected a drug into her, which is why we're currently doing some physical tests on her to observe what type of drug she's been injected with. But don't worry, the drug can be removed once the drug has approached the bloodstream."

"How will the drug be removed?" Serena asked.

"Well, depending on what's been injected into her bloodstream, the drug can get out of the system simply through the process of excretion. It can be released though sweat and urine, but it can mostly come out through her faeces. We're going to be prescribing her some laxatives in order for the drug to be removed from her system faster." he explained. "Your friend's in no harm, really, but it's a good thing you called the hospital."

Ash smiled with relief. "Thank you so much, doctor." The doctor smiled in response. "When do you think Dawn will wake up?"

"It won't be that long," he assured them. Both Serena and Ash had grateful and relieved expressions on their faces. "Well, I'm going to be placing a call to Dawn's parents, so I'll be right back," he said before walking away.

Serena turned to Ash. "I'm glad Dawn will be okay. Thank you for coming with me, Ash. I would have never handled it without you."

Ash smiled. "Of course. You obviously care about Dawn a lot, and I couldn't really see you worrying so much-I had to do something, right?" he chuckled.

Serena rolled her eyes, but smiled.

Okayy im gonna end this here. Keep in mind this story is rated T for a reason, soooo hence that whole scene with the thug and everything.

How was this chapter? Good? I hope it was, I've been trying to write this for days but school got in the way -_- I'm a junior so I'm taking some ap classes and my school sucks ass, I get home every day at around 4 or 4:30. And I get A LOT of assignments and sleep every day at around 1am or 12 midnight, which sucks bc I get sleepy in class.

Anyways enough about moi, pls tell me how I did in this chapter by submitting a review below.

ALSO REMEMBER THAT VOTING WILL CLOSE AT OCTOBER 3OTH, SO VOTE FOR THE SHIP ON MY PROFILE. IT WILL DECIDE THE FINAL SHIP.

Thanks for reading!

Buh-bye! ;P

~SamanthaPearlzz