All for You

Chapter 28

When Serena arrived back at her dorm room, she was dancing in happiness. Ash said I was special! She kept replaying the scene in her head. Dawn, who had updated May and Chloe, was waiting for her on the couch while the other girls sat on their beds.

"So? How did it go?" Dawn asked, eager for answers.

"Amazing! Perfect! Well, almost perfect, but still, it was great!" Serena spun happily and sat on the couch besides Dawn.

"That's great!" said Dawn. "Give me all the details!"

"Well, I don't know how Gary managed to get Pikachu to stay away, but Ash came to the spot saying that Gary said that someone else said the Raquaza was sighted there." Serena took a moment to appreciate that sentence. "He sat down next to me on the grass, and we talked about some things before Ash told me he thinks I'm special." Serena squealed happily at this, and so did Dawn.

"He really said that? What did you say back?" Dawn asked.

"I told him he's pretty special himself. But then his phone rang, apparently Goh text him and he stood up to go back to his dorm, but when he gave me a hand, he pulled me into a hug! It was probably the best way it could have possibly gone!" Serena sighed happily and sunk into the couch. 

May and Chloe, who were listening from their beds, cheered.

"That sounds like it went great! But what made it almost perfect?"

Serena turned a little red. "Well, right before we got the text from Goh, we were laying on the grass, under the stars, he had just said a bunch of nice things, and our, um, faces were really close, so I, um,-"

"What! You were gonna kiss him!" Dawn shrieked. 

Chloe shook her head. "That's Goh!"

Serena turned bright red and hid herself in the couch. "But besides that, it went so well!"

Dawn smiled again and hugged Serena. "I'm so glad! See? Ash wouldn't like a random girl that way! You've shared too many experiences together! We'll make you two a couple yet!"

________........________

When Ash walked nack to his dorm room, he planned to grab his toothbrush, brush his teeth, then put on pajamas and head to bed. That was the plan. Instead, Gary pounced on him as soon as he opened the door. 

"Well? How did it go?" Gary asked.

"I didn't see Raquaza, but I did see Serena!" Ash tried to get past Gary and grab his toothbrush, but he was blocking the door

"Whaaaaat?!?! Nooooo. What happened?" 

"We looked at the stars and talked." Ash managed to wiggle past Gary and open a drawer in his desk/dresser to grab his toothbrush.

"About?"

"...Stuff? Have you ever tried telling someone what you and a friend talked about? Easier said than done. Err, I mean, easier done than said? You know what I mean." Ash now had his toothbrush, but had to navigate past Gary again to get to the dorm's bathrooms.

"Why are you being so weird, Gary?" Ash asked. This wasn't normal Gary Oak behavior.

". . . No reason. Just... walk me through your da- talk with Serena, and I'll let you go to the bathroom to brush your teeth."

Ash tightened his hat. He really had no problem with telling Gary about his talk with Serena, but he didn't back down from a challenge. 

Gary guarded the door while Ash wound up to charge into him. Gary started sweatdropping. Ash wouldn't really ram into me, would he?

Ash started running. Goh and Drew, who had been listening from the couch this whole time, watched in interest.

Gary got even more nervous. Ash was 5 feet away and not stopping. 4. 3. 2. Just when Ash was about to crash straight into Gary with his shoulder, Gary tensed up and guarded himself with the arms he had previously been using to guard the doorway. When it got to 1 and Ash hadn't made contact with him, he opened his eyes just to see Ash run between him and the doorframe.

"Hey!" He shouted angrily. He couldn't believe he lost a game of chicken. "Get back here, Ashy-boy!" Gary ran into the hall and chased down a laughing Ash.

---***---***---***---

Alain heard laguing and shouting coming from the hall, and looked at the rest of his dorm roomates to see their reactions.

Gladion sighed, used to their dorm-neighbor's crazy antics by now.

Tierno didn't notice; he was playing music on his headphones and dancing.

Paul didn't look up from his book. "I don't even care at this point."

Alain smiled slightly and shook his head.

---***---***---***---

Once Gary and an Ash with brushed teeth arrived back at the dorm room, Ash agreed to tell Gary about the date.

"I got there and found Serena sitting on the grass. I sat down beside her and we talked about when we first met our roomates. 

"Then I told her about how she's special. She-"

"Whoa whoa whoa, what?! Details, man! You told her she's special?" Gary couldn't believe his ears. He had been counting on Serena to make Ash see her in a different light, but it sounded like Ashy-boy already did.

"Yeah. It's like- when I look at her, I get a little happier. She's helped me a lot during my journey, and because of it I'll always find her a little special." Ash looked up and smiled.

Gary felt like he was about to explode. Sucsess! Ashy-boy's in love! That was a lot easier than I thought it'd be!

"Then she told me she thinks I'm special. Goh text me that it's late, and I helped her up and gave her a hug before coming back here."

Gary didn't think it could get any better, but it just did. He helped her up and gave her a hug? Ashy-boy is a true ladies man!

"Ashy-boy, that's great! This is the best news I've heard so far this year!"

"What do you mean?" Ash had noticed Gary getting extra excited as he told him about his run-in with Serena, but he wasn't sure why.

"Ashy-boy, remember what I told you about thinking about girls you'd want to spend the rest of your life with?"

"Yeah?" 

"What would you think about spending the rest of your life with Serena?"

Ash thought about this for a minute. 

I'm not yet 15. I've only known about this 'girl' thing for a day. I'm not even sure what it means yet, and Gary's asking if I want to spend the rest of my life with a girl I travelled with for six months.

But Serena makes me feel special. It's like when I'm around her, I always have someone I can rely on or talk to. She's so kind and warm, and always puts others first. She's helped me out more times than I can count, and I always want to keep her safe. She makes the best sweet treats I've ever tasted, and her laugh makes me smile.

"You know what? That sounds nice."