Shattered • Pokemon

11. Goodbye My Friends

A few days had passed since the night Dawn and Ash had kissed.

Things had been a little awkward between them since that night, not painfully awkward.. but there was a bit of tension between them. Dawn had made her feelings for Ash clear, whilst Ash had feelings for both Dawn and Serena, but told Dawn he was dating Serena.

Serena knew something was up with Ash, but couldn't quite work out what.. as much as she tried to ask, he wouldn't tell her anything. Truthfully, he felt guilty that he'd kissed Dawn, and he was upset with himself that he'd done that to his girlfriend.

Dawn and Ash wanted to sort it out, but they'd been quite occupied with Misty's kidnapping. The group went to the police station every night to see if there was any new news, but they'd heard nothing. In most cases, no news was good news, but for this situation, no news was terrifying.

On this particular evening, the group had just left the police station, again with nothing. They were heading back to the Pokemon centre, quietly.

"Babe, they'll find her. Don't worry." Serena tried to comfort Ash, as she reached out to grab his hand. "It's been a week since she disappeared and they still haven't found anything! I can't stop worrying." Ash admitted, clearly frustrated. Serena was taken back by his tone, but understood why he was frustrated.

"I'm sorry.." Ash sighed, noticing his tone had upset Serena. "But i'm sick of this.. I'm sick of waiting around for news, while there's nothing we can do. I hate it. I want my best friend back." Ash admitted, sounding defeated. Serena didn't say anything else, she wasn't sure what to say. Ash just turned around and kept walking, wanting to go back to the Pokemon centre.

Dawn was thinking to herself as they walked. The longer they were going without any news on Misty, the more she worried that this was Paul's doing. She felt similarly to Ash about this situation, she was fed up with waiting.. she wanted to find Misty.. but at the same time.. she was scared. She knew the only way she'd find out for sure if Paul was involved with Misty's disappearance, was if she found out for herself.

The group had finally reached the Pokemon centre and gone their seperate ways. Serena had pulled Ash aside as everyone left them. "What's going on?" She asked, demanding. "What do you mean?" Ash asked, surprised by her tone now. Serena sighed, "You've been acting so different these past couple of days.. I want to know why and.. if I can help you." Serena admitted, speaking softer towards the end of her sentence.

Ash clenched his eyes shut, as he looked away from the girl. He'd been hiding from Serena what'd happened with Dawn the night they went searching for Misty together. He wanted to move past it, and pretend it never happened.. but the guilt too much for him. He loved Serena, and she had been nothing but loyal to him, he felt so terrible for his actions.

"..Ash.." Serena huffed, growing a bit impatient as he'd been quiet for some time now. Ash opened his eyes and faced his girlfriend, feeling hesitant to speak. "Serena I.. I kissed Dawn... We.. we kissed." He confessed, stammered. Serena's eyes widened, "You what!?" She snapped, in surprise. Tears began to well in the girl's eyes, which caused a wave of guilt to wash over Ash.

"I'm sorry Serena.. It was a mistake and I regretted it as soon as it happened." The boy confessed, looking down. A tear rolled down Serena's cheek, as the one thing she worried would happen, did. It was clear to Serena that Ash still had feelings for Dawn, as much as he would deny it.