A Dream, A Destiny

Give them something to talk about

Serena POV

I should have seen it coming. The kiss, I mean. Isn't there supposed to be some sort of sign that lets you know that a guy is going to plant a big wet one on you? Or in my unique case, a frisson inducing gentle one?

You'd think that with all the romance books I practically devour that I would know all of the telltale 'prelude to a kiss' signs off by heart.

Increased eye contact. Rapid breathing. Subtle licking of lips.

Ash must have missed the memo because I didn't even have a second to realise that a kiss was his intention. If he'd just tried to hug me again, I would have been prepared, or at least not surprised, but a kiss... I was lost.

I felt as though time had suddenly stopped as his dark raven hair suddenly brushed against my forehead like a silky curtain, tickling my eyelashes. His amazingly soft, slightly parted lips moved oh so slowly and gently against mine as our breath intermingled.

For a second I was frozen, too shocked to move, too shocked to know what to do.

But I knew one thing for sure- if neither of us put a stop to this right now, I was gonna have to kiss him back. Or even do more.

There are some things I can resist. Ash Ketchum's lips on mine- not one of those things.

Mustering up all my willpower as my paralysis broke and delayed reaction finally kicked in, I quickly placed my hands on his hard chest and backed away from Ash, slamming my back into the wall as I stared at him, my mouth wide with shock. Unfortunately, immediately after doing so, I felt mournful about the decision.

I realised that the kiss had actually felt rather nice, if I hadn't stopped to think about who it had been attached to those soft lips.

And if I hadn't stopped to remember where we were, and what might happen if Ash and I got caught red handed by Miette, Misty, or Ash's father.

Now that's something I want to avoid.

Maybe in another life I might have been able to kiss Ash back and not have to worry about the implicit repercussions, but that was neither here nor there. What mattered right now was the fact that nobody had seen the results of our little make out session.

Ash looked about as stunned as I felt, which was saying something since I felt like I'd been hit between the eyes with a sledge hammer.

He ran a shaky hand through his raven hair as he cleared his throat. "Sere, ****- I didn't mean to do that," he stammered, taking a hesitant step towards me then just standing there, his hands in his pockets.

I stared at him dumbly, resisting the urge to put my hand up to my lips. Bad idea when you've just been kissed. That would just the fact that I was still mightily shook up over the kiss really obvious to Ash, and I surely didn't want that. Not at all. Unfortunately, Ash chose that moment to lick his lips and I almost groaned as the hyper voice in my head started in.

What I really want to do is grab Ash and kiss him senseless.

Swallowing hard, I tried to banish the unhelpful thoughts from my mind. No, you don't. Focus, Serena! Yeah, Serena, focus on his nice, soft lips.

My imagination and the little voice in my head that never shut up, wasn't helping me one bit as I argued with myself. As I am prone to doing. No! He's your friend, That doesn't explain why-

"You kissed me," I breathed, sounding like all the wind had been knocked out of me. Which, in a way, was kinda what had happened.

What I had meant to say in response to Ash's apology was a standard 'It's okay.'