Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon!

So chocolate cupcakes with white chocolate pudding with frosting with sprinkles go to: Forever New Yorker, Amulet Misty, smiley232, Kaileychicago,and RawRoar! Thanks so much for reviewing!

Hope you enjoy the chapter! And the [somewhat] fluffiness begins here!

Last time:

She was never one to believe in superstitions but she could tell that something terrible was heading her way.

Dawn cautiously walked down the sidewalk with her hand hovering above her pokéballs on her belt. She held her plum colored purse tightly by her side. Knowing her luck, something terrible was going to happen. Just as the town center came into view, Dawn was tacked over to her left; her face landing directly in the powdery snow. Dawn sat up and quickly began to brush the snow off of her face. Once the visible substance was off her face, she rubbed her coat sleeve against her facial features. Dawn blinked slowly attempting to register where she had happened.

"What the heck?" Dawn whispered to no one.

"Need some help?" A voice asked while a hand came into Dawn's view. Dawn knew better than to accept help from strangers so she glanced up. Standing in front of her was the person she had been purposely avoiding for the past 3 days: Kenny.

Dawn scoffed and stood up. She brushed the rest of the snow particles off her cream coat and began to walk off.

"Dawn!" Kenny called out as she was walking away. Dawn continued to walk as if she hadn't heard him call out her name. "I order you to stop walking and come back," Kenny smirked reminiscing their bet.(Remember chapter 3?) Dawn halted and pivoted on her heels with a frown etched across her lips.

"Oh yeah? What gives you the power to order me around?" Dawn interrogated while rolling her eyes. Dawn saw the smirk lying on his face and glared, "What's with the smirk?" Kenny chuckled and walked up to Dawn.

"Remember our little wager?" Kenny circled Dawn. Dawn's eyes widened in realization. Aw crap…. Kenny saw this look on her face and then his expression softened. "Please, Dawn, can you just listen to what I have to say?" Dawn attempted to look into Kenny's eyes but eventually gave up.

"Fine," Dawn sighed before spotting a nearby bench. Dawn tilted her head in the direction of bench, motioning for Kenny to follow her. Kenny nodded and the two walked to the bench and sat down.

"Dawn, would you care to explain why you didn't want to be my friend?" Kenny looked at Dawn. Her eyes averted to her lap. A silence fell upon the two.

Dawn decided that after a few minutes of silence that she should say something, "I'm not really comfortable talking to anyone about it yet."

"Well, I'm not just anyone. I happen to be your best friend," Kenny paused, "Er, well your ex-best friend." Dawn soaked in the truth of the matter and sighed.

"You see, it started 7 months ago," Dawn started. "I hope that you have plenty of time because it's a long story." Dawn proceeded to tell Kenny about the relationship with Paul, abuse and all."I don't even know why I stayed for four freaking months," Dawn cried out with tears welling in her eyes. She then froze realizing what she had to say next. She could feel heat rising to her cheeks and her pulse accelerating.

"You okay, Dawn?" Kenny inquired at her sudden silence.

"Yeah," Dawn lied. She couldn't just tell Kenny that she likes him; it wasn't that simple. Dawn didn't want to invade her best friend's life with her problems. She decided that she would just have to avoid the question and lie around it. It wasn't exactly Dawn-approved but what was the worst that could happen? No need to worry, right? "Well, then you came along," Dawn smiled. "And I remembered all the fun times we had. But you were the first guy that I got close to after the Paul incident," Dawn alluded the question easily. "I just couldn't handle it once I realized what could happen. So, that's where we are now," Dawn concluded. She began to twiddle her thumbs, in her lap, scared of Kenny's reaction.

"Oh, Dawn," Kenny looked at her hunched over figure. "You know that I would never hurt you, right?" Kenny waited for a reply but none came. He placed a finger under Dawn's chin and made her look him in the eyes. She had small tears forming at bottom of her eyes. Dawn still attempted to avoid his eyes but his gaze was pulling her back to his eyes. When Kenny saw that Dawn was finally making eye contact, he smiled and quoted, "No need to worry, right?" Dawn smiled at his reference and sat upright.

"Right," Dawn affirmed. Kenny then stood up and offered his hand to Dawn. Dawn stared at his hand and then eventually took it in her own. Kenny pulled her up and his hand remained locked with hers.

"So, what now?" Kenny questioned. Dawn didn't know how exactly to respond to that question, whether it reference to their relationship or literally what to do. However, her body decided to answer for her; as if on cue, her stomach growled. Dawn grinned sheepishly and Kenny rolled his eyes, "I take that as you saying, 'Let's go and eat!' So let's go into town and find something to eat there." Kenny jerked his head in the direction of town center. Dawn nodded and the two walked hand-in-hand into town. Dawn giggled when Kenny childishly began to swing their hands. They walked into the plaza and looked for somewhere to eat.

Finding that all of the restaurants had a waiting line, Kenny sat Dawn down on the edge of the stone fountain which was in the center of the plaza. She winced at the cold temperature of the granite but sat down anyway. "I'll be right back," Kenny explained and Dawn watched him jog over to a hot dog cart, hold up two fingers, and grab the hot dogs. He jogged back to Dawn and plopped down to the right of her. He gave one to Dawn and began to open the other one. "Just how you like it: ketchup with only a tiny bit of mustard, no relish."

"Thanks, Kenny!" Dawn grinned before biting into her hot dog. Kenny mimicked her actions and they sat in a comfortable silence, enjoying their hot dogs. Kenny crumpled the leftover foil and held out his hand for Dawn's trash. She handed it to him and finished her hot dog. Meanwhile, Kenny went to throw away the trash when he spotted a small ice cream cart; he smiled and headed for the cart, regardless of the temperature.

Dawn finished her hot dog and awkwardly sat alone. Finally Kenny came back with an ice cream cone in each hand. Dawn's face brightened seeing her favorite flavor sitting upon one cone. Kenny saw this and smiled.

"Here you go," Kenny delivered the cone to Dawn. He watched her grab the cone and lick the ice cream resting on the top. "Strawberry is still your favorite, right?" Kenny attempted to affirm.

"No duh! It's always been strawberry. Why would you think that it would change?" Dawn continued to lick her strawberry ice cream while looking at Kenny.

"Hmp, I don't know."

Dawn's laugh echoed through the now empty plaza. "Why type is yours?"

"What does it look like?" Kenny asked while pointing to the brown ice cream sitting on the waffle cone.

Dawn giggled, "I don't know. Maybe it's chocolate brownie instead of chocolate fudge." Kenny laughed with Dawn carelessly. They quickly finished their ice cream and decided that it was probably a bad idea to eat it in the cold weather, but neither noticed before because they were just enjoying each other's presence. Dawn shivered as snow began to gently fall from the sky.

"Let's head home. Shall we?" Kenny stood up and held out his hand. Dawn blushed at her best friend's chivalrous action. She quickly put her hand in his; he pulled her up from her seat and put his arm around her shoulders lazily. They made small talk as they walked the snowy path to Dawn's house. When they reached Dawn's house, she pulled out a key and opened the front door.

"Mom! I'm home," Dawn called out to her mom. Her mother descended the staircase and greeted her daughter with a hug.

"Kenny! What a surprise! I haven't seen you around recently," Johanna gave Kenny a hug as well.

"Yeah, it's been a," Kenny paused attempting to think of a word to describe it, "busy 3 days." He nervously laughed.

"Okay. I'll take your word for it. I'll make you some hot chocolate. I don't want you to catch a cold," Johanna replied as she went to the kitchen. Dawn lead Kenny into the living room and they both sat down on the dark blue loveseat. Before sitting down, they both took off their shoes, coats, and socks then let the white plush carpet warm their feet. Johanna came in with the hot chocolate and placed it on the coffee table then she left the room with a smile.

Kenny and Dawn quietly sipped at their hot chocolates and let the warmth over take them as smiles crossed their faces.

I hope that you liked it! The next couple of chapters are gonna be fluffy! Thanks for reading!

So please, please, please, Review!

This time, chocolate cheesecake brownies for reviewers! I actually made these with my cousins and they were really good :)!

Until next time, please review!