Teach Me How to Love - amour

Chapter Nine - Take Two

Serena heard the doorknob click and happily rotated her head to face the entrance of the room she was sharing at a Lumiose Pokémon Center.
"Hey Serena, what've you been up to all day?" Ash said with a smile as he stepped through the doorway.
"Uh-uh mister. We're getting food and then you're telling me all about what happened."
The raven haired boy flashed a bright smile at his friend and grabbed her hand to walk her downstairs.
"A-Ash? W-we aren't dating, I mean, we a-aren't pretending to date anymore so you probably shouldn't h-hold my hand anymore," Serena squeaked.
"I wouldn't mind at all but I'm scared of Misty seeing us if we slip up in public."
Ash dropped her hand and took a seat on the worn couch that was positioned in the corner of the Pokémon Center lobby. He looked... sad?
"You're right, I'm sorry. I guess it's just kind of habit now, haha. Do you need help making dinner?" he asked, rubbing his nose with his finger.
"Don't worry about it Ash. I'm going to cook up some rice and vegetables, it shouldn't take more than ten minutes!" she shouted over her shoulder as she quickly ran to take some food up to their Pokémon. A minute later she returned and disappeared into the kitchen.

Ash sighed. It had been odd that he and Serena would randomly end up with their fingers woven together, but it felt even odder forcing himself to pay attention and prevent it now. Serena's hands are a lot softer and smaller than Misty's. I must've been sweating too much around her today.

"Ash! Food's ready!"

The brown eyed trainer hopped up from the couch and went to grab his plate. He and Serena hurriedly ate the stir fry and tossed their paper plates out on the way back to their room.

—♥︎—

"Okay, start from when you left the restaurant and tell me everything that happened, in detail, up until the point that you returned here," the blonde said as she plopped onto Ash's bed and laid next to him, looking up at the ceiling. Her hand brushed against his hip momentarily as she adjusted her position, and Ash could tell his cheeks had gone pink from the brief contact for some reason unknown.
"Well, Misty wouldn't tell me where we were going until we arrived. She held my hand on the way there but it was kind of clammy and weird... I don't know what I was doing wrong... We went to see the new Staraptor Wars at a theater a few streets away. She brought candy and drinks in her bag, and when the booth manager asked to see what she had with her she said 'lady supplies.' The man was so embarrassed that he let us pass without checking!" Ash exclaimed with a cheeky grin. The trainers broke down in laughter and once they regained their composure the raven haired boy continued.
"The movie was pretty awesome but it was hard to concentrate on it. Misty was laying against the entire right side of my body and it wasn't all that comfortable. Around half way through the movie she kept nudging at me and I managed to put together that she wanted me to put my arm around her after she said she was cold. I'm not alllll that dense you know, there's no way that she was actually cold! I didn't do anything other than that because you're supposed to do what feels natural, right? Something felt off about the whole situation which I think ended up annoying her. Why does it feel nice to hold hands and cuddle up with you but not her? What am I doing wrong?"

Serena's face went tamato berry red and she knew she couldn't do anything about it. She gulped and waited for him to continue, scared that her voice would fail on her.

"Right; after the movie I tried holding her hand again but it was the same feeling. We went out to have a triple battle, and I feel bad saying this, but I annihilated her." They both giggled.
"She told me she was impressed so I guess the training you did with me, Hawlucha, Noivern, and Talonflame paid off. Thanks again for that Serena. I guess Misty wanted to redeem herself so I went with her to Prism Tower so she could battle Clembot. She thought Clemont's 'weird robot thing' would be stupid, but Magneton and Heliolisk took her Pokémon out without a problem. In true Misty fashion she blamed her loss on type advantages and claimed that she was cheated by technology. Then I walked her to her hotel and returned here," Ash finished with a smile. Serena laughed softly, still a bit shaken by his words.