After minutes of chatting and relaxing in the living room, Grace realized that Ash and Serena would want to grab their things and clean up before dinner. Dinner was already done and the three went to the car and collected their bags.
Grace spoke up as she led them past the house and towards the side. "I did adjustments to the guest house, Serena, but had I known you would bring your... friend, I would've got an extra bed or room ready." Serena's face slightly dropped at her mother's humorously unsure look. "I only assumed you'd like a bigger bed rather than the one in your old room."
They passed a long rounded pool with tall, well taken care of plants bordering it. Next to the pool, looked to be the guest house then forest trees were in the back and side of the building.
"That's fine." Serena shook her head, putting on an awkward smile. Her eyes shot to Ash who had been infuriatingly quiet. "We can share."
"Wonderful." Grace let out a breath, relaxing her shoulders and waved for them to follow. "Follow me then."
She escorted them through the back, a sliding glass door that led them surprisingly to a large bedroom. It had gray walls and a made up bed with many fluffy white and light green pillows. The comforter was white and gray with a lime green throw blanket on the end of the bed. There was a tall, wooden dresser and two side tables. A normal bedroom.
"This is the bedroom." Grace went on past the bed and to a door across from it.
She guided them down a hall, pointing to a white door on their left she informed them was the bathroom. She walked them straight to the living area with a couch. Next to the couch, were double doors that seemed to lead back around to the other side of the pool. In the corner was the kitchen which was similar to the bedroom with its white cabinets and gray walls. It had a short two seater island and was complete with black and white marble counters. Although, for a guest house, it was quite a sized kitchen.
"I'll let you both relax and make yourselves at home. Here's the key for both the front and back doors," she said, showing off the key in her hand and placing it on the island. "I'll see you two in a bit." Grace walked by them and left out the door, abandoning them to stand in between the kitchen and living room.
"I'm surprised you didn't protest at our sleeping arrangement," Serena broke the silence.
"I don't find an issue. There's a sofa. I'll sleep here," Ash said, gesturing to the soft looking couch.
She nodded with a tight smile. "Okay." Ash's eyes swept over her face and Serena could feel the air grow heavy. She cleared her throat, "My mom seemed to like you. How did you pull that off?" She chuckled quietly.
"I'm kind of hurt that you're surprised. Am I really that bad?" He said with a lazy and sort of arrogant grin. "I'm decent enough with meeting parents."
Serena gave him a sharp look. "How many girls have you dated where you had the pleasure of 'meeting the parents'?"
Ash paused, realizing this was the first.
Noticing his silence, she teased, "Exactly."
"No, this is a first, but fine." Ash inclined then graced his lips with a self-satisfied smirk. "Could just be that intriguing energy of mine."
"It is," Serena whispered in all seriousness, her eyes looking deeply into his. Ash's smile fell a little, brow creased. "I realized that I never thanked you."
"For what?"
"For coming. It didn't cross my mind until my mom mentioned how much you had to drop to come here." She began nervously shift on her feet. "We're in the middle of a semester and here I am asking you to do this. You must be behind on your schoolwork. You already missed basketball. I wouldn't want another punishment for you. Then you might have... a girl... you're trying to be with. I don't know why a part of me hopes not," she stopped, her eyes slightly widening. "Not that it's any of my business, unless of course you wanted to make it mine, um, goodness."
Wait, what? What the hell is she saying?
"Then there's dance and god, I'm being selfish—"
Her ramble seized at Ash's hand brushing her cheek. Serena took a deep breath and looked into his brown and promising eyes. He smoothed his fingertips up, passing her ear till he raked through her hair strands, gripping the side of her head.
"I don't think there's anywhere else I'd rather be, Serena," Ash said with such intensity that her heart had to stop to take another part of him in without her permission.
He eyed her wobbling bottom lip. "Please, stop doing that," Serena breathed out harshly while her hand instantly came around to cup his cheek.
It was in her eyes. The struggle within her heart and mind. Those brown eyes with gold specs that glowed in the shimmering sunlight that permeated the room, her pink lips so enticing, imploring to meet his. She was battling with herself.
His forehead fell forward and pressed against hers. He followed his hand in cupping the other side of her cheek. Ash could feel her breath on him. Their eyes closed, savoring each other's warmth. He gripped Serena in his tight hold, kneading his fingertips on her scalp and his other hand brushed his thumb on her cheek. He could hear the slight whimper at the back of her throat as they breathed each other in.
It was like his soul had awakened. Ash didn't think or care about his restraint to hold back any longer. With his hands he tried to convey how much he desperately wanted her to make the first move.
Right when Ash thought she was going to close the space between them, Serena whispered, "I think... I should go see if my mom needs help with anything."
Immediately, Serena shrugged him off and pulled him away to turn in the other direction. Leaving him standing there with his empty hands, staring at the spot she left and feeling that beginning sense of defeat. He needed her to make up her mind. Did she want him or not? He knows it's hypocritical to question that, but it hurt to think about. His mind went through all the possibilities of her behavior.
Honestly, he could feel himself depleting.
Ash then heard her soft sniffles as she walked away. Serena's back was towards him, but he saw her hand coming up to clear what he could assume were tears.
When dinner began, they made their way to the dining room table. There was plenty of food to eat, Ash's mouth watered, and Serena secretly found it adoring. Despite what happened earlier, they sat beside of each other on one side of the table while Grace sat opposite of them.
Taking a bite of her food, Serena snuck a glance at Ash. He may not seem like a people person, but he was quick to adapt to his environment, she noticed. Ash eased into conversation easily using his smooth-talking and ways that brought her to him in the first place. He got along well with her mom, Grace talking to him about her life as a horse rider.
Serena's eyes and mind stayed fixated on the side of his face. As though Ash could feel her eyes on him, he turned his head to give her that damn grin. She blushed, turning back to her plate and picking up her knife to cut into her steak.
"Serena, how are classes going?" Grace inquired, swallowing down what was in her mouth and wiping her lips with her cloth napkin.
She swallowed the chewed up steak down her throat. "Fine. I'm doing well in all my classes." Serena shrugged nonchalantly, licking the taste of A1 sauce on her lips, and placing her utensils down.
"That's great, dear. I expected nothing less." Grace moved her attention to Ash. "How about you, Ash?"
Ash's mouth was full of food, the two women finding the image amusing, as he tried to swallow quickly at Grace's question. He was attempting to be formal and make a better impression on himself than he usual does. "A rough start. My time management was terrible and I procrastinated sometimes, but I'm back to doing great as of now."
Serena faced him with a small smile and he looked back with that smug one of his. Grace hummed, her eyes lingering on their stares. "Must be hard being a student athlete and all. Balancing out both can be tough."
Ash nodded before diving his fork into his plate. He opened his mouth to reply. "Along with exercise science, I major in business. You have to have a nice understanding of the regular subjects. I learned a lot within my major, but I knew a lot more beforehand. Moving to this university just helped expand my knowledge. It can be tiring, but I don't plan on giving up. That's all there is to it."
He tried to keep his answer simple. He saw Grace looking into his eyes now, satisfied with his answer. She glanced at Serena who kept her attention on her food. Ash could tell Grace was protective of her daughter for who she was around, so he didn't have a problem with the questions. He didn't know what to expect, but he could understand that.
"You said you moved here, so that begs the question," Grace pointed out. "You're not from Kalos, are you? Where are you from?"
"Pallet Town in Kanto." Ash lifted his chin, placing his fork down on the napkin beside his plate. "I was born there, but I've been all around when I was younger, different schools in other regions, or basketball camps. The teams I played on traveled most of the time for different game locations. I came here to Kalos for college and my scholarship; the university is one of the best with academics and sports."
"That's interesting," Grace said, intrigued by his response. "Do you like it here in Kalos?"
"Yes, ma'am." Ash ran his tongue over his bottom lip. "It's been an adventure so far, but that's what I love."
"I'm glad you're enjoying it here," Grace told him, smiling. Her eyes trained on Serena, like a sudden memory came up. "Serena, do you remember the lady who was with me all the time on the track? I don't expect you to remember her exactly—you were a little girl at the time—but she recently told me that she got married."
She looked up from her plate, her eyes widening. "Miss Sarah? She got married?"
"She did, dear. She also knew how much you loved to plan your own wedding as a little girl. However, she figured you were busy with your classes and dance which is why she didn't want to bother you."
Serena pouted, the missed opportunity passing by already. "You should've told me! I would've loved to help plan out her wedding." She declared, then heard a soft disgruntled noise from right next to her. She decided to play around. "Ash loves weddings, too."
"Uh—yes, I love weddings," he said suddenly, pacifying his dissatisfaction, soon mumbling, "When there's food at least."
Serena tilted her head down, shaking it slightly as she chuckled at his quick change. When looking at him from the corner of her eye, he smiled back at her.
There goes that warm, fuzzy feeling in her belly again. Goddammit. Serena blinked a few times, shaking her head as she looked away too, trying to ignore what had been happening between her and Ash which was... an immense infatuation.
"There's also something I wanted to talk to you about, dear," Grace spoke up again and Serena turned her head to face her again. "I wanted to talk about your next performance. I know I haven't been the best at attending, but I'd like to make up the time to see my daughter doing what she loves." She looked at her carefully, expecting her to lash out or get upset—Serena assumed.
Her body did go stiff at her mother's words, contemplating whether or not she could believe it. She forgot the real reasons she came here for, apart from the dinner. The conversation and apology she had prepared flew right out the window and in its place was something close to fear.
"I— well, we," Serena said, meaning her and Ash, "do have a competition... soon." Serena nodded to her mother nervously and Grace was grateful for her acceptance. The reminder of her guilt of the things she once said to her mother only rose, and anxiety took over her.
Unexpectedly, there was a comforting hand that rested on her knee, squeezing it in reassurance. It calmed her within seconds. Realizing slowly that it was Ash's hand giving her the comfort she needed, her breathing evened out.
Serena turned her eyes to him, but he didn't look at her. The discussion that had been going on that she inadvertently blocked out had been something he was invested in. His face was intent, the small pull on his lips as he nodded at something. Then his mouth opened, engaging himself in whatever was being talked about. He spoke to her mother as though the small comfort he gave her wasn't happening.
Just when he was about to pull his hand away, she hurried her hand under the table and gripped his hand firmly; not able to let him go.
Ash stilled, but she could see he was watching her from the corner of his eye. Looking at her plate, she grabbed her fork with her other hand, picking up a piece of her meal to eat. Serena tried to listen to what her mother was saying—it was hard to. As she chewed, she slid their hands off of her thigh and placed them between the chairs. She let them hang limply to ghost her palm against his. Gingerly feathering her fingertips on the soft smooth pad of his skin.
Feeling eyes on her, she looked at the person neighboring her. Ash's eyes held understanding and a small sense of pining, as if he knew what she was thinking. She tried to smile, but it came out forced and quivered. He snapped his gaze at his plate, afraid she would see the certain look laced in his eyes.
It was his breathing that grew erratic and she could feel the air go stiff—all noises were blocked out. Having no idea what she was chewing on, she forced it down her tightening throat. Her nails continued to dance down his palm.
Ash licked his lips, trying to steady his breathing. He lost sense of what was around him. All he could feel was her hand on his. He only grabbed her knee to calm her because he only just learned how sensitive she was about about this topic with her mom; knew she was nervous about being here. But when she gripped his hand back tightly, this wasn't what he anticipated.
Serena's nails created kind, slow scratches up and down his hand, all the way from his wrist to the tip of his fingers. Taking a shaky breath, his thumb stuck out and moved to rub the side of her hand when her fingers ended up lingering down. He placed his palm against hers.
This time he took the initiative and he interlaced their fingers. In such surety, she gripped it with a strong hold, rubbing her thumb against his. Ash heard his heart echoing in his ears when he brushed his own against her index.
Whatever this was, whatever they're doing; it was out of their control.