>>39537497>>39537600desu, he probably knew, but didn't want to hassle himself with shit until she came out and made things clear on her terms what exactly she felt, because it's not his MO. Take the scene where Shauna teases Serena, Serena replies by awkwardly saying how much she admires Ash, and then Ash says, "Hmm? What was that, Serena?" and she quickly changes the subject. Chances are, he clearly overheard and knew what had been said, but just accepted that she wasn't ready to express herself. Hell, his whole objective with her from the beginning was just breaking her out of her shell and making her confident in herself, and that closing scene was probably the clearest indication to him that he'd succeeded in that. That being said, he was probably caught off guard in the airport scene not because she expressed her feelings, but rather the extent of her feelings and how she choice to express them physically instead of just verbally. Like, as if to said his thoughts immediately after the kiss go something like, "Ohhhh, THAT'S what this was all about. THAT'S why she always acted that way those times. Wow, things make a bit more sense now. Am I really that dense to have taken this long? I really hope I'm not the only person who didn't realize what was going on. Oh, well, better late than never, I guess?"
Or maybe that's just the kool-aid talking.
