A Dream, A Destiny

A heat one

Serena POV

I finally found my lost voice somewhere down in my throat, to my relief. Looking up into Ash's smiling face, I said, "I thought you don't believe in destiny?"

To my surprise, his arm reached to my chest as his fingers grazed my golden shiny locket and he came winked at me by making me all flustered crimson. "I don't exactly have a choice now since I know we cannot rule over our destiny," he said, his fingers still on my locket, which was lying dangerously close to my cleavage - chest.

I pouted, enjoying how it felt to flirt with Ash- so natural and fun. "Now you're making fun of me."

Shrugging shamefacedly, Ash said, "I'm sorry, you're just too easy!"

I saw this as a way to wrap up our awkward yet highly entertaining soul mate talk, hopefully for good. Too much wishful thinking is dangerous for a girl like me.

"My soul mate would never make fun of me, so you totally fail."

Ash groaned out of whack, seemingly upset. "At least I tried," he said, biting his lip in a self-confident manner, he added "But I'm not stressed. About soul mates, I mean." His voice trailed off.

"Why?" I questioned with curios kicking in, waiting impatience for him to answer.

He softly squeezed my free shoulder while we still dance. "We're only 17, we have all the time in the world to find our soul mates and be unhappy for life." Grinning ruefully, he stared off into space, looking away from my eyes. "That is, if I live that long." His voice trailed off again.

My stomach lurched guiltily. In the excitement of the night, I had completely forgotten about the aneurysm. I was sure that Ash had forgotten about it too and was only mentioning it now because he happened to remember.

I frowned at him, urging myself to shout or scream at him, but resisted it. "Don't say that." I said in my normal voice with concern spitting out.

He shot me a crooked smile. "Sorry. I forgot."

"Being cynical doesn't suit you, Ash." I said truthfully in my opinion.

"I'm just saying, after observing my dad and Hope, I'd much rather not even go the marriage route."

Feeling puzzled, I had to ask. "But- they're happily married, aren't they?"

"Depends on what you call happily," Ash said as the song finally ended making the duets around us finish their slow, long dance. That's certainly cleared up a lot. But Ash didn't seem inclined to go into detail and I didn't want to push him.

He bowed, looking straight down at his laced sneakers. "Thank you for the lovely dance." As he straightened up, he added "And sorry I kept stepping on your toes." At least he noticed. "I'm a bit rusty."

I looked down at my French manicured toenails, encased in a pair of brand new Gucci heels. They seemed all good. Note to self- next time I dance with Ash, wear steel toed boots. If there was a next time.

Smiling bright at Ash without showing any disrespect, I said, "You're very welcome. Oh, by the way, might I suggest dance classes?"

Shaking a finger at me, Ash chuckled. "Now who's making fun?"

"I couldn't resist." I said and giggled to myself until...

Ash slowly grabs my hand and plants a kiss above my palm, a slow caress of the lips. I shivered as his upper lip caught just a little on the skin of my hand as he stepped back, staring into my surprise eyes all the while.

Hot damn. Ash's hotness is gonna be the death of me.

"That should make Leaf happy," he commented, placing a warm hand on my bare back, giving me a shot of electric tingle And leading me off the laminate dance floor with other citezens stepping off.