"Get up, Ash! You're going to be late!" I called, stepping out of the bathroom while brushing my hair.

"Mm? Gmmph mm hmm," he… responded? Not sure I could call it that.

I rolled my eyes. "Seriously, Ash, it's nine already. You have to be at the school by 9:30, or Misty is going to be mad at you…" I trailed off, smiling to myself.

"Nooo! Not the mallet!" Ash shot up from his bed so fast you'd think he'd been splashed with water. I giggled.

He grunted in annoyance as he heard me. "Ha. Ha. Ha. Dawn, you laugh, but you have no idea how scary that thing is." I giggled again, just to annoy him. He rolled his eyes. "You done with the bathroom?"

I gave my hair one last brush and inspected it. Perfect. "Yup. Have at it." He ran in as soon as I slipped out.

I laughed to myself. This scene might as well have been run on replay for the last few weeks. No matter how earnest Ash was about his work, waking up in a timely fashion would never be his strong suit. I idly wondered how his mother had dealt with the problem. Maybe I should ask her? I was going to be living with him for another several weeks, so it may be a worthwhile call to make.

I poured myself some cereal, musing over my situation with Ash.

The two of us had graduated high school together just a few weeks ago. We were going off to college in the fall, but over the summer we'd decided to stay in the town where we'd graduated. Ash was staying because he was working at a local summer camp. Since he'd been the star basketball player at our high school, he'd been invited as a coach to teach little kids to play. The job paid really well and the guy loved the game and helping others play it, so he didn't think twice before he accepted.

As for me, I'd been offered an internship at a fashion magazine. It paid ok, and it was my dream to enter the fashion world, so it was a no-brainer for me as well.

The thing is, we'd gone to a private high school far from our homes, so we'd always lived on campus. Since we'd graduated, though, we couldn't stay in our dorms anymore. My mom actually suggested that I come back home and try finding work there – that was how big a problem it'd been.

There were of course my best friends, who would have been more than happy to give me a place to stay. But May was from too far away, Leona was out of town helping with her parents' hot spring business, and although Kenny, Iris, Cilan, and Brock had all offered, they were all living with their families, and I felt bad barging in on them for two months.

That's when Ash had told me he was subletting Gary's apartment while Gary went out of town to intern with his grandfather. Gary was one of the few kids who'd lived off campus senior year. He had no real reason for it, but using his grandfather's influence, he'd pulled strings and done it. All of senior year, Gary's apartment was party central for his friends. Ash was over a lot, and I was invited quite a few times myself.

But the point is, it was super convenient. Since Gary had gotten the apartment in the fall and had leased it for the year, subletting it while he was away for the summer was to both his and Ash's advantage. And when Ash had told me, it was to my advantage, too.

I'd begged Ash to let me stay with him, promising to pay half the rent. He'd asked me if I was crazy.

You see, when I said Gary rented the apartment, I meant it… just Gary. He'd rented it for himself… and hence, it was a one bedroom apartment.

With one bed.

But I'd been over enough times to know that; I'd also been over enough times to know it was a King-sized bed. Two people could easily sleep on it.

Actually, Gary had made sure it was King-sized for that reason. A famous womanizer, Gary rarely spent a night where he was the only inhabitant of that bed. Among his female friends though, the joke was he got a king-sized bed to make up for something… not so king-sized.

But I digress. Back to Ash and me. Obviously, Ash had called me crazy because we – members of opposite sexes – would have to share the bed, which was generally a problem for heterosexual people. Honestly, it would have been a problem for me, too, but here was the thing.

It was Ash.

Ash and I were best friends. Not best friends the way people threw the term around referring to someone slightly similar to them – best, best friends. We'd been through thick and thin, highs and lows, all together. Talking to others I would use the phrase "best friends" to refer to Ash, May, Iris, Brock, Cilan, Kenny, Leona, etc., but if you pushed the matter I wouldn't hesitate: Ash was my best best friend. Hands down. When I entered high school I was pretty rigid about my personal space – sharing a bed with anyone, boy or girl, was out of the question. And that was still true to a certain extent now. But Ash was a friend that transcended the comfort zone I needed with most people. Sharing a bed? I could share a toothbrush with the guy.

Ok, no. That's disgusting. Eww. But you get the point.

Plus, it was Ash.

Ash wouldn't try anything on me. He wouldn't take advantage of any girl. Heck, I didn't know if Ash understood if girls were people you could even try things on.

Lastly, it was Ash.

My mother's major concern when I told her my plan was that there would 'romantic tension.' She claimed that if we had any feelings at all for one another, a combination of the emotional aspects of living together and the sexual tension involved with being around one another would cause those feelings to amplify real fast, and she told me the problems afterward would be a nightmare to deal with.

But Ash and I were best friends. Nothing less, but certainly nothing more. There wasn't an ounce of 'romantic tension' between us. All the emotional interplay from living together was handled by the strength of our friendship. As for sexual tension, there wasn't a drop. Ash and I ate, sat, and slept body against body, and there were no problems whatsoever. The good feelings of warmth and closeness we felt during those times were purely from how we felt about each other as friends. I knew that at least. If Ash ended up developing feelings (HA) for me (notice the funny part is him developing romantic feelings at all), I'd just have to turn him down; knowing him, it wouldn't hurt our friendship at all. Let the record stand: I had no romantic or sexual feelings for Ash Ketchum in any way, shape, or form.

Mm. Speaking of sexual things.

I picked up my bowl of cereal and walked back to our bedroom. I glanced at my phone. 9:15. Right on time. I sat with my back against the bed's headboard, eating my cereal. Any moment now…

Sure enough, the bathroom door opened and Ash strolled out, a towel wrapped around his waist. He was wiping his hair with another towel as he walked to the dresser to grab some clothes.

I leaned forward slightly, slurping my cereal anxiously.

Like I said, Ash was the star basketball player at our school. I don't know whether it was the cause or the effect or some kind of confounded mechanism, but with those skills had come the body of a Greek god.

I continued to eat, watching the show blissfully. As he walked his abs rippled, the tight skin expanding and contracting over the packs of muscle. When he lifted his hands to his head, his cut pectoral muscles stretched up the sides of his chest to his shoulders; his hands came down, and the furrow between his pecs accentuated beautifully. When he reached his arms to tug his towel behind his neck, his biceps bulged against taut forearms; he leaned on his dresser, and cords of triceps extended up to his shoulders. As he bent down to rummage through a drawer, tight muscle appeared behind his shoulders and beneath his shoulder blades, extending in long mounds across his back. As he stood again to full height and his body loosened up, I could see how incredibly broad his shoulders were.

"Dawn, you have some milk dribbling down your chin," Ash said offhandedly, slipping back into the bathroom to get clothed.

I was so surprised I nearly spilled the rest of my cereal. I quickly wiped away the offending milk with my knuckles, cursing at having missed his obliques as he turned. He had some nice obliques.

I know this entire thing seems a little dicey, so I'll admit this outright: Ash was sexy. He just was. But just because I appreciated that didn't mean I had sexual feelings for him. I was a straight girl; if he was going to walk out of the bathroom every day showing off that much tight, toned glory, I was going to watch. But it didn't mean anything. Really, no need to worry.

I finished my cereal and washed the bowl before readying Ash's breakfast. As the clock hit 9:20 the bathroom door opened, and shortly after Ash emerged from the bedroom, ready to go.

I held out a paper bag as Ash rushed by. He grabbed it, grinning. He didn't look inside. "The usual?"

"What else?" I quipped.

He left the apartment to start the car; I grabbed my things and got in as he shifted into gear and sped out of the parking lot. This was Gary's car, which he'd brought to town at the beginning of the year and left for Ash to use over the summer. It was quite convenient.

"Excited for work?" I asked.

He grinned, but kept his eyes on the road. "Yeah! Today I'm going to teach the kids to run while dribbling. If things go real well, I'll see if I can make a game out of it. They love to compete so much you wouldn't believe." I smiled; over the past few weeks I'd watched him take the kids in his class in like his own children. It would have been charming for anyone else to see, but I expected as much from Ash. "How about you?" he furrowed his brow. "Still working on that article?"

"Yup. Most writers can do a segment this short pretty fast, but since I'm an intern they're giving me a ton of time. And then it'll get reviewed a bunch before it gets out. But I pick up a lot around the office during that time, so it's good. A pretty relaxed pace but I still learn a lot, you know?"

"I hear ya. But your writing's awesome. If you're up to it, maybe you should ask if you can get your segment reviewed earlier."

"Maybe… The pace is relaxed, but I can't say I'm not eager to be published. The editor-in-chief seems to be pretty impressed by my work so far… Maybe I'll try?"

"Do it. I want to buy at least two Poké Chic magazines with your name in them." He shrugged. "It would be awesome, at least. But go at whatever pace you feel most comfortable with."

I smiled inwardly. Ash always pushed all his friends to be the best they could be. But he made sure not to make anyone feel too uncomfortable about it. In my opinion, it was one of his best features.

"Thanks, Ash… Hey, you're going to the gym tonight, right? What do you want me to make for dinner?"

Since Ash had graduated and stopped playing competitive basketball, he had gotten restless and claimed he was getting out of shape (trust me, his Greek godliness had been well intact). Since he had a job at the school, they let him use the gym facilities after the camp was over for the day, so every other day – on the days he wasn't scheduled to cook – he exercised at the gym. It wasn't like he needed it, but according to my calculations his biceps had increased in circumference something like four centimeters; no self-respecting girl could say anything against such a phenomenon.

"Hmm… anything you feel like making is fine. As long as it's tasty… I know that can be hard for you but –"

I punched him in the shoulder lightly. He grinned. "Hey, I'm driving!"

"And tonight, I'm cooking. So watch your mouth if you don't want… Gah, is there anything you don't like to eat?"

Ash squinted thoughtfully. "No, not really, no."

I clicked my tongue. "Well then, I'll make you watch a chick flick tonight."

"You wouldn't…"

"Wouldn't I?"

"Let me tell you, ma'am, the worst of your cooking is like heaven in my mouth."

"That's more like it."

Ash pulled over in front of my office building. It was less than a ten minute drive by road (it was about the same by foot thanks to foot trails) and the school was maybe another minute or two away. He'd make it in time.

"Have a good time, Dawn!" He extended his hand, palm up.

"You, too, Ash! Tear up the court." I gave him our usual morning low five. I preferred our high fives, but I'd nearly broken my back trying to give him one in the car the first time we'd tried, so I reserved those for when I saw him back home.

I turned and walked into the office as he pulled away. Home? I laughed to myself. It hadn't even been a month, but living with Ash made the place seem so homely.

I strode into the office cheerfully, greeting the receptionist.

"Hey Marian, how are you?"

"Dawn! I'm good. Had a good weekend?"

"It was nice, yeah. Hey, I was wondering, is Hermione free?"

"Hmm, let me check her schedule… Yeah, she doesn't have anything scheduled now, so you can just walk in." Marian's brow furrowed. "You're not having any problems, right?"

I waved my hands in front of my face wildly. "No, no! I'm so happy with the way things are going." I twiddled my thumb nervously. "That's why I'm actually a little hesitant to ask. See, I was going to ask her if I could submit my segment early for review so maybe I could get to work on another one. I just want as much experience as I can while I'm here, and honestly I'd really like to get published. It's not like I think I'm an expert or anything! I want my work to be reviewed critically and everything, it's just –"

"You are the cutest thing, Dawn." Marian cut me off, smiling. I flushed. "Dawn, if you think you're ready, go in there and ask her. I've seen some of your work myself and I think it's magazine-ready. And if you still need some encouragement, Hermione doesn't exactly hate you, if you know what I mean." Marian winked.

I went behind the desk and hugged her. "I'm going in right now. Thanks so much, Marian!"

Marian hugged me back. "Go get 'em, girl!"

I walked back to where Hermione's office was and knocked on the door lightly. After a few seconds there was a muffled response. "Come in."

I opened the door and walked in, closing it behind me and turning to face Hermione with a smile. "Ah, Dawn, please, take a seat." I sat down in one of the two chairs in front of her desk. She leaned back in her own chair, knitting her hands in front of her chest and leaning back, looking at me with her intense, bespectacled eyes that seemed to allow her to see everything. "What can I do for you?"

I explained my request to her carefully, my knees jumping anxiously as I talked. When I finished I waited for her reaction.

There was a moment of unsure silence, and then Hermione smiled. "Wonderful. Since you showed me the earliest draft of your work I've been thinking about approaching you to ask if you wouldn't mind speeding your timetable up. I waited to see if you'd take the initiative, and you did. As an employee in the real world, you're going to need to make judgments about your own skill in relation to your current job in order to take initiative in the workplace and open up opportunities for yourself. Obviously there's risk involved, but here your judgment was flawless."

I beamed, sending a mental thank-you to Ash. He would get a very tasty dinner, and the movie tonight would most certainly not be a chick flick.

"How do another two segments sound?"

I snapped to attention. "T- Two? I'd love that! …I mean, if you really think I can handle it…"

Hermione shook a finger at me playfully. "Where's that confidence you walked in with? That's important in the workplace, too, you know." I smiled. "That's better. Of course I think you can handle it. How about you hand in your current segment to Raoul for review and get to work on the next one?"

I stood up happily. "That sounds great. Thank you so much, Hermione!"

She smiled softly. "Sure thing. I'll ask Raoul to pass me your segment as well and I'll send you my comments. Good luck on your next segment in the meanwhile."

I thanked her again and left her office, feeling incredibly bubbly. Two more segments! That would mean Ash would get to buy three magazines with my name in them before the summer was over. I couldn't wait to tell him.

Once I passed my segment in to Mr. Contesta (he again reminded me to just call him Raoul – but it was weird to think an older man so informally), I sat down and got to work. The next few hours passed quickly amidst working at my desk and chatting with everyone in the office about the current fashions. When lunch rolled around a few of the girls asked me out with them, and I accepted gleefully.

We walked out of the office and down the main road through the town. I noticed we were heading toward the high school and wondered if I could drop in and see Ash. He usually ate lunch there, so maybe I could introduce him to everyone. Plus I wanted to tell him as soon as possible about –

"Hey, isn't that your roommate Ash?" Zoey said suddenly.

"Huh?" My head snapped up to look at where Zoey was pointing. We were standing outside a cute little café maybe a block from the high school. Zoey was motioning through the glass.

Sure enough there was Ash, sitting at a table. I smiled instinctively, about to run in and say hi, when I noticed the table was set for two. My brow furrowed as I try to get a better look at who it was sitting across from him. Brock? Cilan?

"Dawn, who's that girl? You never said your roommate was dating someone." Solidad inquired curiously.

I finally saw that it was Misty who was sitting across from Ash. I stared, turning Solidad's words over in my head. Ash… dating Misty? No way. Ash, despite what felt like hundreds of suitors, had never had a single girlfriend in high school. No way had that changed in the last few weeks.

But Ash hadn't said anything about taking Misty to lunch. We told each other everything. Pretty much up until the color and style of our undergarments, we consulted and discussed about every part of each other's lives.

Which was why seeing Ash and Misty eating lunch together hit me like a ton of bricks. It either meant he thought it wasn't important enough to mention to me, which was a very small category of things and not one in which I would put this, or it was too important to tell me, which was a thought that made me suddenly feel like throwing up.

"Dawn? You ok? You don't look too good." This must have been true, because Jessilina, who rarely spoke to me, had said it.

"N- No need to worry!" I said as cheerily as I could. I couldn't say anything else. I felt pretty off-kilter, although I knew I was overreacting. What did it matter whom Ash ate with?

"Let's find another place to eat, guys." Zoey suggested. Normally I would hate the idea of causing a hindrance to the group, but I didn't say anything. As I followed the group, I pulled out my phone and texted Ash, no longer able to hold myself back.

12:45 PM Me: Heeeeelloo :) What are you up to?

I sighed, putting away my phone and following the group into another café close by. I took a deep breath. It didn't matter, it didn't matter, it didn't –

My phone buzzed. I whipped it out so fast I nearly dropped it.

12:46 PM Ash: Heyyy :) Just having lunch.

I frowned. Why wasn't he –

12:46 PM Ash: I came to a café off campus w/Misty b/c the 2 of us have don't have to supervise kids today. You?

I sighed in relief and the three girls looked at me strangely. I flushed and apologized, turning back to my phone.

12:48 PM Me: Came downtown with a few of the girls for lunch. Haha that's cool, havin fun?

12:48 PM Ash: Sure am. Did you ask Hermione about your work?

12:49 PM Me: Sure did! I'll tell you all about it at home!

12:49 PM Ash: Yeah plz… Misty's threatening to take out her mallet if I don't put this away… See you at home, Dawn!

12:50 PM Me: Stay in one piece, then... :D See you, Ash!

I sighed involuntarily and flushed again as the others looked at me. "S – Sorry about that…"

Zoey put an arm around my shoulders casually. "Don't even worry about it. Though that is the first time I've ever seen you get worked up about anything…"

We ordered and headed back to the table. I decided they at least deserved some kind of explanation. "Yeah… Ash and I are really close, so, well, seeing him out for lunch with someone when I know nothing about it…"

I trailed off, feeling stupid suddenly. Jessilina capitalized on it, smirking. "Makes you feel insecure?"

I squirmed uncomfortably. Solidad nudged Jessilina lightly. "She's obviously being serious. Be a little sensitive. Not everyone's as rough and distant with their friends as you are."

Jessilina looked resentful of this statement and quickly shot back, turning it into a full-fledged argument. I joined in when appropriate, just glad that the conversation had turned away from me.

On our way back I looked into the café to see that Ash and Misty had already left. I realized finally that it really was just a lunch date and not an actual date. See, self? Ash wouldn't be doing something like that without telling me. No need to worry.

The rest of the day passed relatively plainly. At 5 I left work, grabbed a few things from the grocery store nearby, and got home by 5:30. The camp ended for the kids around 3, but between clean-up, next day prep, and meetings, Ash didn't get out until around 4. Since he was working out today, he likely wouldn't be back until 6.

I hummed as I made dinner. Baking was my stronger suit, but cooking was pretty fun, too. The time passed fast. Before I knew it I heard the front door open. I grinned.

"Hey, Ash!" I yelled.

After a few moments Ash sauntered into the kitchen and sniffed around, smiling happily. "Pasta, huh?" he lifted a hand up, palm toward me.

I smiled and turned, giving him a full, resounding high-five. "Ehh… Seven out of ten, you can do better…"

I kicked at him playfully. "Get out of here, you reek."

He chuckled and walked off to shower. Unfortunately he took lightning-fast showers in the evening, so I never could catch him getting dressed while making dinner. Ah, well. I suppose at least I wasn't spoiled.

"By the way, Ash," I yelled out to him, "I'm thinking from tomorrow onwards I'll pack lunch for the both of us. I picked up some groceries today so we have everything we need. It'll save us both money in the long run, don't you think?"

"That's fine with me. I don't really like leaving the kids to eat out anyway, even if I don't have to supervise." He yelled back. "Well, it's fine as long as you pack something tasty, but I know how hard…" He trailed off as I assumed he went into the bathroom, but I could imagine the end of the sentence. I giggled.

I set the table just as Ash came out, dressed in his nightclothes, hair still damp. He rubbed his hands together eagerly. "Looks awesome, Dawn! Can we start?" He sat down at the table.

I rolled my eyes. "Go ahead and get started, Ash. Where'd you put your towel?"

"On the rack, duh."

"On the bed, got it."

I grabbed Ash's towel off the bed and came back to see him inhaling his food. There was no better feeling than seeing someone enjoy your cooking, but really, did he even taste anything when it was going down his throat that fast?

I put the towel on Ash's head and rubbed at his hair thoroughly to get it dry, trying not to disturb his eating. "I'm not going to keep doing this, you know. I'm going to stop doing this one day and you're going to get a cold."

Ash guffawed between bites of his food. "You've been saying that for the past three weeks."

I grunted, trying not to let on that I enjoyed mothering him.

During dinner I told Ash about what'd happened at work. He slammed the table and grinned widely, stopping his eating for a moment.

I considered myself promoted to minor deity. It took some level of godliness to stop Ash eating during a meal.

"Congrats, Dawn! I knew you could do it! That's awesome!"

I flushed. Ash gave me the most praise out of everyone I knew, but it never got old or boring. "Thanks a lot, Ash – I really owe it to you for –"

"That's bull, give yourself some credit for once, Dawn. How about this? To celebrate, we can watch a… a… ch… chi… I can't say it. You know what I mean."

I laughed so hard I almost spit food out of my mouth. Once we'd cleared the table and washed the dishes, we sat down to pick a movie.

I didn't pick a chick flick, choosing instead to restore Ash's faith in life by picking an action movie. As the movie started, I snuggled into Ash's side, digging my head into his chest. His arm moved around my shoulders and the familiar feeling of warmth washed through me as he held me to his body.

Warmth of friendship, just to be clear.

As the movie progressed we kind of gave up on having form or keeping ourselves upright. Ash slowly fell into a lying position with his head on the armrest of the couch; I accommodating the length of his body by slipping on top of him and putting my head flat on his chest.

So, so warm.

As the movie neared its end I confirmed I knew how it would conclude and promptly closed my eyes, assuming normal sleeping behavior.

As the credits rolled, Ash tapped me gently on the shoulder. "Dawn?" he whispered.

I did my best not to grin. I must have been successful, because after a few more attempts he just sighed and laughed. "Classic Dawn," he muttered to himself.

I moved my arm to my face naturally to make it look like I was sleeping while stifling a laugh.

Slowly and carefully, Ash slipped out from underneath me and used his arms to turn me over, then picking me up in his arms bridal style. A contented sigh escaped me involuntarily.

I heard him chuckle slightly and move to our bedroom, closing the door behind him with his foot. He moved to my side of the bed and placed me down softly, like a feather on a bed of clouds.

He pulled his arms out from under me and, assuming we were disengaged, tried to stand up abruptly. I still held the front of his shirt, though, and I grasped it tightly and rolled over sharply, pulling him over me.

"Hey – oomph, geez," he whispered. His reflexes and strength allowed him to stop himself before he crushed me, instead using his hands to push himself over me to his side of the bed. I still held his shirt. As he settled in, I snuggled closer to him.

Using my hold on his shirt as a guide, I moved my head into the crook under his chin and then moved my other hand to rest with the one holding his shirt, sandwiched between our bodies. Then I started squirming on and off.

This probably seems extensive and not altogether believable as a routine. But to be perfectly blunt, Ash was gullible enough that I'd done this for most of three weeks without him realizing I was awake.

As for how extensive it was, it had to be to get what I wanted.

I continued to squirm erratically until Ash sighed. "I don't know what kind of sleeping disease you have, Dawn, but it's awfully funny this cures it."

Ash reached his arms around me, pulling my form close to his and enveloping me in his embrace. I stopped squirming. Warmth flooded over me, and I sighed in contentment once more. There was no better position in which to sleep – except maybe spooning front to back, but I'd only gotten him to do that once and he seemed really hesitant.

But seriously, this was where it was at. It was such a relaxing position. No matter what time I slept, I would always awake relaxed. The warmth was so complete I could barely stay awake if I wanted to… But I had to hold on until –

"Good night, Dawn. Sleep tight." Ash whispered.

Good night, Ash. Don't let the bedbugs bite. I smiled into his chest, feeling warmer and more loved than ever.

As a friend, of course.

Author's Note

Next Update: 11/25/14, 4:00 AM UTC