What If (A Mirror Amourshipping Story

Chapter 1

379 days.

It has been 379 days since Ash broke up with his ex-girlfriend Miette for cheating on him.

379 days since he dropped out of medical school and started a dead end career writing user manuals for dedicated purchasing software.

379 days since he started living with his older sister, Dawn and her son, Jeffrey.

379 days where his life has not felt the same.

This is what fills Ash's mind as he sits on the roof of Dawn's house. He likes to get on the roof through the window to his room around night time to think about his life. With his sad brown eyes and messy yet weak black hair, the 27-year old man glumly looks at the view of Lumiose City which is a half hour drive from Dawn's house in Vaniville Town. He takes out his phone and looks at his latest text message from his best friend since college, Brock.

Brock: Hey, Ash, are you planning to come to my party? I know you're still super down, but you gotta get out of your hole sometime, bro.

Ash frowns at the text. For over a year now, Brock has been trying to get him to move on from his depressed state and back into society since Ash only leaves the house to go to work or go to a movie with Dawn and Jeffrey or maybe go to a movie by himself. As much as Ash appreciates what his friend is trying to do, he has no confidence that what he's asking will help. Normally, if Ash ever goes to a social gathering without a girlfriend, he just stands around or sits somewhere quietly while he pathetically watches everyone drink and chat the night away and Brock makes out with two women at minimum. Everyone who knows Brock as a friend knows that he's an expert at hitting on and successfully make out with women and date at least one for a brief time before it ends badly.

Suddenly, Ash feels his phone vibrating in his pocket and he takes it out.

Brock: Look, buddy, you can't keep moping forever. Sooner or later you need to move on. Do you really want to stay in this state while everyone else including Miette are having better lives than you are?"

Ash winces at the message. The idea of his ex-girlfriend living a better life than him even after she knowingly wronged him stings him inside. He thinks about what Brock is saying until he goes to the voice message app and plays a voicemail that has been on his phone for exactly 379 days.

"Ashy, please talk to me," A frail and sad female voice says. "Whatever you saw, there's an explanation. I'm not saying it's a good explanation - obviously, it's not, but you don't know the full story. Look, Ash, no matter what happened I still love you. You are a sweet guy and you mean everything to me. Just call me back, please. I love you."

Ash frowns angrily at the woman's claim that she still loves him. He's heard this message at least a few hundred times now and each time is more unbearable than the last. But this time, he can't stand to head the desperation in Miette's voice. It's as if for the first time, the pain in hearing her voice is not as strong as before.

Without another word, he deletes the message and climbs down the roof.

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Ash walks down the street to Brock's house with a nervous look. As much as finally deleting Miette's message lifted a large weight on his chest, he's still unsure that he can stand interacting with a crowd of people again. He gulps nervously as he makes it to the driveway to Brock's house where he can see a bunch of people partying through the windows. Ash hesitates and takes a step back waiting to turn around and go back home until the front door bursts open to reveal a tall 29-year-old man with black hair and dark skin looking at Ash with a face of joy.