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See the bottom for a little challenge if you're interested! :)

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Chapter 10

It's hard to explain the state of panic that I was in. You know that feeling that you get when everything is going right, everything is going your way, and then it all gets ruined because of one small thing? It's kind of like a shocked and stunned feeling at first, and then a sinking feeling as you admit defeat.

That's what I was feeling.

Dawn must have seen the look of worry on my face because she too was beginning to worry.

"W-what is it, Ash?"

An idea popped into my head, but not exactly the greatest one. I opened the window.

"Quick, Dawn! Go onto the roof and jump down into that bush!"

She giggled. "Ash, even if I had all of my strength, I still wouldn't do that."

I smiled and laughed. Yeah, I guess it was a pretty stupid idea. My smiling quickly stopped when I heard a car door slam and the garage door start to close.

I grabbed Dawn and lowered her underneath my bed.

"Ash, what-"

"Shh!" I told her.

I could hear my mom walking up the stairs. I grabbed my laptop and pretended to be using it, even though it was in hibernate. Luckily my mom wasn't so tech-savvy.

"Ash! How many times do I have to tell you to make your bed in the morning!" She told me as she walked in.

"Sorry, mom. I'll do that later."

"Everything went well while I was gone?"

"Yep, no problems."

I prayed that she wasn't catching on the to the fact that I was trying to rush her out of my room. Luckily she didn't, and headed out. I heard her go into the washroom. It's now or never.I thought.

"Mom! I'm going for a walk to meet up with some friends!" I yelled.

"Okay! Have fun!"

I looked under the bed. Dawn was frowning in confusion. I gave her one last "shh", picked her up, and sprinted down the stairs and out the door.

I sprinted all the way around the block and safely around the corner.

"Ash, I don't get it. Why didn't you just tell your mom that I was there?" Dawn asked me.

The answer was clear to me, but it didn't really seem like the real reason why.

"First of all, you were lying in my bed. Imagine what she would think of that. A teenage girl lying in her son's bed."

She laughed and slapped my arm playfully.

"Ash..."

"Second, she would probably find out what happened and tell your parents."

"Oh, my mom! Ash, what am I gonna tell her? She's probably worried sick about me!"

"Just tell her that you were at May's or at Jasmine's for the night."

She smiled. "Yeah, that would probably work!"

It was weird. A week ago, I couldn't even look at Dawn. But now look at me. I was holding her in my arms, and we were hitting it off! I felt like I was really getting a different vibe from her. I felt more comfortable around her.

"Ash? Dawn? What the hell?"

We looked around to try and find out where the voice was coming from. We saw May across the street running towards us.

"Oh my god, Dawn! I heard about what happened last night! That Paul! How are you feeling?"

We approached a large oak tree. I set Dawn down so that she could rest against the trunk of the tree, and we all sat down.

"Thanks Ash. I feel a lot better, thanks. May, can I ask a favor of you? Do you mind if I tell my parents that I stayed the night at your place?"

"Not at all, go ahead. But where did you stay at night?" She asked Dawn.

Dawn hesitated. "Ash's! I didn't have a choice; I was unconscious! He and Brock really helped me last night. Brought me to his place. Thanks, Ash."

"Anytime." I should have said more than a stupid one-liner, but the conversation carried on.

"So May, where are you headed?"

She also hesitated. "A friend's."

Dawn continued. "Well since you're walking there, I'm assuming that they live near here. Therefore, I know them. Who's?"

She blushed and said quietly "Gary's"

Dawn and I looked at each other smiling.
"Well I'll leave you to your business, then. C'mon, Ash, let's go."

Dawn got up and motioned to start walking. Wait, walking. DAWN WAS WALKING!

"Dawn, you can walk?" I asked, surprised.

She was stunned. "O-oh, yeah."

"Then why did you make me-" I stopped. Dawn blushed and closed her eyes.

"Haha!" May got her revenge laugh.

Dawn glared at her and gave her the death stare.

"Alright! I'm leaving!" May said goodbye and headed in the other direction.

I was about to ask Dawn about what had just happened when she interrupted.

"C'mon, Ash. The trip'll be a lot easier now that I'm walking. At least for you." She blushed a little.

Dawn was definitely acting differently. She was more talkative, less shy, and more outgoing. Maybe she was feeling the same way I was. Maybe she was becoming more comfortable around me. Everything was slowly unfolding.

But nothing could have prepared me for what was about to happen.

As we turned the corner to Dawn's house, my jaw dropped. Her house was incredible! A huge mansion surrounded by a black fence. A garden full of flowers, fountains and plants caressed the entrance and front path.

"THIS is your house?" I asked in awe.

"Yeah, why?" She said as if it were nothing.

"It's huge!"

She grabbed my arm and pulled. "C'mon."

The inside was just as good as the outside. To the left, a beautiful grand piano sat in an extraordinarily decorated room. To the right, an awesome stainless-steel kitchen with an island. Straight ahead, two curved staircases that lead to an upstairs. My jaw stayed dropped that whole time and Dawn smiled and shook her head every time she saw me.

I found out another thing that Dawn and I had in common. She also only lived with her mother. Her mother was so rich because she used to be a well-known Pokemon coordinator. I had no idea what a coordinator was at that point so when she told me I just smiled and nodded, and assumed that it was a very prestigious job.

We had a conversation just after Dawn had finished explaining to her mom that she stayed the night at May's.

"So Ash! How do you like Twinleaf so far?" Her mom asked me.

"It's great! It isn't too different from Pallet Town, so it hardly feels like I left home anymore!" Not true. I still got the occasional homesickness, but it was still to early for me to admit it.

"Oh my, the time! I have to get going. Dawn, leave a note if you go anywhere. Nice meeting you, Ash!"

"Okay, mom. Bye!" Dawn said.

"Likewise! Goodbye." I told her.

We were alone again.

"So Dawn, why don't you show me what you can do on that piano." I said smiling.

"Oh no! Definitely not! I'm not even that good!"

"So I carry you around for a night and a morning, but you can't play one simple song for me?"

She smiled and slapped my hand. "Fine."

I sat down on the couch next to the piano not expecting much. Even by the way she opened the piano you could tell she wasn't very experienced.

Boy was I ever wrong.

She started off simple but beautiful. Chords in the right hand accompanied by two 5ths in the left. It caught me by surprise. Then the melody kicked in. It was so beautiful. The way the melody danced with the harmony of the song was unreal. It was enough to make a grown man cry.

I got up. I had to; it was so beautiful. I went to stand behind her playing.

"Dawn, this is beautiful."

"I wrote it for someone." She said while still playing.

"Who?"

She turned around to look me in the eyes. "It's for-"

*BANG* *BANG*

Two knocks on the back door. She immediately stopped and went to go check it out. I followed. But when I saw whom it was, my face turned pale and rage filled up within me.

"Paul? What are you doing here?" Dawn asked opening the door. She looked at me and gave me the "don't do or say anything" look.

"Dawn, I-" Paul saw me and stopped. He gave me a pretty nasty stare, which I returned, and continued. "I came to apologize."

"Oh, so all of a sudden 'sorry' makes up for almost killing someone?"

"Listen, Dawn. I'm sorry about what I did. I was drunk. But Dawn, this stuff has happened between us before and we've made it through. So please, forgive me one more time. I'm sorry."

Dawn turned to look at me and gave me an unreadable look. I had no idea. She turned back to face him.

She raised her arms asking for a hug.

I could feel tears filling up in my eyes from a mixture of hatred and sadness. I couldn't believe how stupid she was being. I was ready to leave.

Paul raised his arms to accept. They both leaned in for the hug. I started to look away, when a quick movement caught my eye. This, I could not believe.

Dawn lowered her arms, made a fist, and punched a vulnerable Paul with arms raised right in the balls, full force. Paul went down hard, panting.

"Get the fuck out of my house, Paul."

I was overwhelmed with joy because of what she had just done. Well played, Dawn.

Paul was struggling on the floor as Dawn yelled more profanities at him.

As I began wiping my previously watery eyes, I heard Paul get up which made me immediately stop. He was angry, very angry, and I was worried. I walked in a little closer to the action.

Paul was breathing heavily, staring at Dawn. "You bitch!" He yelled. He swung full force at Dawn's face. He made disgustingly good contact and knocked her to the floor. She wasn't unconscious, but her face was definitely going to bruise up.

That's it. He just crossed the line. No more "beating him without fighting". No more. I had had enough.

"Hitting girls now, are we Pauly? Let's try this man to man now. See if you like it better."

This was about to get ugly.

A/N

Whoa, crazy stuff, right?

Anyways, I'm going to hold a little contest.

10 000 points to the first person who can guess the name of the song Dawn was playing on the piano.

Leave your guess as a review.

*Hint* It is a song from the Pokemon anime, and is heard frequently throughout the D/P series.

Good Luck!