Purple Ink (SatoGou)

Chapter 19

My alarm wakes us up the next morning. Goh is still pressed against me, groaning into the pillow and pulling the top one up over his head to block out the light. I lean in and press a kiss to his neck, grinning when he shudders. "Good morning."

"Too early," he hisses, waving his hand at me. I laugh, sliding out of bed and heading for the shower.

When I'm out, and dressed, I leave for the kitchen, to see if the others are up already, while Goh jumps in the shower. Immediately I hear Dawn's voice drifting out from in there, as chipper as usual, but when I open the door, it's Serena she's talking to, not Chloe.

"Morning, Ash," Dawn chirps. Right away I notice she and Serena are sporting matching hairstyles- space buns. Dawn notices my gaze and reaches up to poke one of the buns. "Cute, right? Serena did it for me."

Serena grins and puts her arm around Dawn's shoulder. I try to subtly study Dawn's face, for any hint that something might have occurred last night, but she seems... unnervingly normal, and Chloe's nowhere to be seen. I raise an eyebrow. "Yeah, it's... something. Where's Chloe?"

Dawn's face immediately changes slightly, faltering for just a split second, before her big smile returns. "Oh, she was showering, I think."

"I'm gonna go make sure May's up," Serena announces, already striding past me. Dawn starts wringing her hands together in front of her, and I wait until the door swings closed behind Serena to spring on her.

"Okay, tell me. You like Chloe, right?"

Dawn makes a choking noise and blinks wildly at me. "W-What? No!"

"Oh, come on, Dawn. It was so obvious yesterday."

She pouts, crossing her arms. "Fine. She's... very attractive. But what does it matter? We hardly know each other."

"You could get to know each other."

Dawn sighs, clearly fighting internally with herself. "Yeah, but... We're across the country from each other anyway. It would never work."

"So you're not even gonna try? Crazier things have happened. Goh and I are proof of that."

"You and Goh already live together now. I'm not a long distance kinda girl." She shrugs. "Besides, Chloe probably isn't even interested in me."

"You're kidding, right?" I raise an eyebrow. Dawn just shrugs. "It's just... It kills me to see you let another person you're interested in pass by. You know you do that, so don't give me that look. You never give yourself a chance to open up to anyone."

"Ash, you're so lucky that you and Goh worked out in the end. It doesn't usually work like that. Trust me, I know I'm a catch. I won't be single for long." Her final words are accentuated with a big grin, but I know it's fake. She's trying to get me to drop the subject. I debate arguing with her some more, but I let it go instead. Clearly she's not listening to reason. She can't even see how perfect she and Chloe are for one another.

Serena sweeps back into the room a second later. "Shock, May was still in bed. Not a vibe when your friends are waiting for you. Anyway, she's up now, so we should be able to leave soon."

"Great," Dawn says, a pained smile on her face. I can tell I've hit a nerve, but I don't feel bad, because she'd do the same thing to me and honestly, maybe she needs me to tell her she needs to take a chance every now and again. What's the worst that could happen?

I narrow my eyes at her, but she just pretends she doesn't notice, and doesn't speak to me again, even when we leave, walking as a group to the indoor rink. I keep trying to catch her attention, but she makes sure she sticks beside Serena, which earns them many a sad-stare from Chloe, who probably suspects something's going on between them, even though the idea is laughable to me.