break the fall

by Aureillia

in a world where team rocket had destroyed so much, the life of an ex-member is anything but simple. - mayxbrendanxdrew triangle

Dedicated to CookiesNCreamNess for being a fantabulous friend, and an even more megamazeballs fellow Hairy Melon! Even though you're a stinky-poo and keep trying to steal Gray.

Disclaimer ~ I do not in any way, shape, or form own Pokemon, nor do I have anything to do with the franchise. All of that amazing world belongs to Satoshi Tajiri. Anything written here is purely for entertainment purposes.

---

Break the Fall

Being in a relationship with someone was never something that I'd taken into serious consideration.

That wasn't to say that I couldn't tell a pretty face when I saw one, or hadn't had a crush before. I simply forced those thoughts back into a deep, dark crevice of my mind.

Having a girlfriend just wasn't possible.

After all, who could love someone who was considered a murderer?

Not that I had actually ever killed anyone, of course. But the moment anyone even heard the words, 'Team Rocket', that's how everyone viewed you. Talk about stereotypical, huh? They automatically made you an outcast, sealing your future. Seeing as I was once an actual Grunt, albeit not by my own choice, I couldn't risk it.

Just having that kind of label would completely screw up your whole life.

I seemed to have an incredible amount of fortune, however, because there were five other people that knew my secret; those people being my best friends. I had know idea what I'd done to deserve it, but by some unfathomable amount of sheer luck...none of them had cared.

Ash Ketchum; the lovable idiot. He was just too kind hearted, and no matter what, his friends always came first. He didn't even bat an eyelid when he found out.

Drew Hayden; the cocky bastard. Drew...well, Drew didn't care. With work obsessed parents that are never around, and more money is his bank account at fifteen than all of us combined would have in our lives, he wasn't picky about where any of us came from. He wasn't that bad, though. Drew genuinely cared for his friends.

Paul Shinji; the cold, heartless prick. He just...was Paul. Deep down, he really did care for us. Deep, deep, deep down. Like, really deep.

Gary Oak; the playboy. His grandpa, Professor Oak, had dealt with Team Rocket analysis on many occasions. Therefore, Gary had witnessed firsthand what life was like for some of the grunts.

Calem Xavier; the study freak, much like myself. Being the only other guy interested in actually passing the year, we got on pretty well. He'd known basically everything there was to know about Team Rocket, which made it pretty easy for him to accept me.

Most people weren't that lucky.

Which was exactly why we couldn't go prancing around the school blurting out; "Hey, everyone, Brendan's an ex-Team Rocket member! Don't worry, though, he ain't gonna hurt ya!"

Pfft, yeah right.

I would be instantly shunned and most likely kicked out of the school. Not that the Headmaster and a couple of the staff weren't already aware, though. The fact remained that if word spread about my predicament, the school would be in trouble.

Not to mention me.

What girl would want to date someone with that kind of baggage? Gary always said that I was being ridiculous, and scoff whenever the topic was brought up.

"So what?" he would say. "It's not like you're gonna get married or anything. Just have some fun, no problems there. Nobody's ever been able to tell an ex -criminal organisation member by shoving their tongue down their throat."

He wasn't the only one; Both Calem and Drew thought that I was over thinking it, but they had different reasons.

"Brendan, you're only sixteen. Besides, if it's the right girl she won't care about your history. It's not like you ever wanted to be a part of Team Rocket, " Drew always reminded me.

They could say what they liked, but it didn't change anything. Not that they were wrong, of course, although one could argue that Gary had a rather blunt way of putting it. I just didn't see eye to eye with them. Not on this particular subject, anyway.

Nothing could undo the past, a past when I was a part of the most hated organisation in the entire world. There couldn't possibly be any girl that could ever look passed that.

Those were the facts, and that's just how it was.

---

"Hey, Brendan!"

I look up from my book to see my friend, Ash Ketchum, heading towards me with a goofy smile plastered on his face.

"Hey," I greet back, wondering why he was in this part of the school. It was almost time for his next class, which if memory served correct was on the other side of the building.

"The guys are planning to visit Cerulean City for the weekend so we can check out the beach. Misty swears by it, and we've all been meaning to get out, so we thought 'why not'?" Ash tells me, the smile never once leaving his face.

Cerulean City? That was at least a three hour drive away, although I had been itching to get away from here for a while. Then again, I had also made arrangements with May to tutor me in Math…

"I dunno...who's going?" I inquire, not wanting to come off as rude. This would be the third time I'd have turned them down on plans, and Drew had begun getting suspicious.

"Umm...well, all of the group. I invited Misty, and she said that she was also going to bring a few of her friends along. You know the bunch that she normally hangs out with? I can't remember any of their names, but I think Paul mentioned something about one them being troublesome..." the raven haired boy explains, trailing off.

Misty? That probably meant that May was invited, too. Oh well, at least I wasn't the only one who would have to miss out.

"Sorry, but I don't think I can make it. This weekend doesn't work fo -"

"Come on, dude. Have you seen Misty's friends, let alone Misty herself? Not to mention, they'll all be in bikinis!" a new voice echoes, and we turn around to see my other friend, Gary Oak, grinning from across the room.

I frown, slightly annoyed at his intrusion. "Don't you guys have class or something?"

He shrugs, and I knew it was probably a stupid question. Gary didn't care about his grades. Not because he was lazy, but because he didn't need to. With his grandfather being the most famous Professor in all the regions, he basically had his life handed to him on a silver platter.

"Not for another ten minutes," Ash answers, and I suppress a sigh. "And don't get any funny ideas about Misty!"

Gary rolls his eyes at his remark. "Relax, Ashy-boy. No need to get your knickers in a twist. As sweet of a body your precious Mist has, I happen to have my eye on someone else."

Ash glares at him, before turning back to me. Gary having an eye out for a chick wasn't anything new; there was basically a new one each week, two if they were lucky.

Why is it that when you actually want class, you can't have it?

"So, what do ya say?" Ash presses eagerly, and I smirk at Gary's subtle kiss-faces. We both knew how much he wanted this; the guy had been crushing on Misty for ages.

"Maybe some other time, Ash."

"Oh, I get it. This about the whole 'not being able to have a girlfriend' thing, isn't it?" Gary guesses, raising an eyebrow.

"It has nothing to do with that!" I insist, knowing full well how much of a lie it was. If I didn't have May as an excuse, there was no way that I could have gone, anyway.

"Brendan, you never go out with us anymore. It'll do you some good to have a break from school. We're stuck here all day everyday. Who wants to spend their whole semester cooped up like chickens? Besides, it won't kill you to loosen up a little," he argues.

"Yeah, and you've only started 'being busy' when we began inviting the girls along," Ash agrees, frowning slightly. "Don't you like them or something?"

"Would you guys stop with the whole girl thing? It just so happens that May is tutoring me on Saturday. Anyway, I have nothing against Misty or any of her friends. Unlike you lot, I'm actually trying to get a good grade," I retort.

"Sure, sure," Gary remarks, "what are you worried about your grades for? The final exam isn't for another year, and we all know that you're bound to get the best score in the year level. All you ever do is study subject after subject."

"Well, maybe if any of you actually bothered to take proper notes instead of chucking paper around in History, I wouldn't have to," I defend, knowing that they wouldn't be able to argue against that.

"It's not our fault that you refuse to show up half the time just because Cynthia chose Team Rocket as the area of study," Gary shoots back at me. "You wouldn't have to work so hard if you'd come once in a while."

Okay, so apparently they could counter that.

"You know how I feel about that, Gary. I have enough guilt without listening to her preach on about all the horrible things that my parents have done. All of the things that I have done," I say quietly.

His expression softens, and Ash looks guilty. I inwardly scoff at this; I didn't need their pity.

"Brendan, you were five when you joined, and that was because of your parents. Lance shut it down by the time you were eight. That's still only a child. The worst you did was wreck a few buildings, it's not that bad," he reassures, but I can still hear the doubt in his voice.

"My parents destroyed lives, Gary. I don't need a daily reminder about it," I mutter back in a low voice.

"Alright, alright," he says, finally giving up. "Suit yourself, but the offer still stands."

"So does my studying."

"I don't know how he does it. Every time I look at a textbook my head hurts," Ash speaks up, holding a hand to his head as though even thinking about it was torture.

A sigh emits from the doorway, and the three of us look over to see another figure leaning against the frame.

"Sorry, dude. I've tried convincing them to take notes, but you know how they are," Calem apologizes, shuffling over to us.

Okay, I really wasn't expecting this to turn into a mother's club meeting. What does a guy have to do around here to get some studying time?

"Yeah, they just end up being idiots, which leaves us to do all the work," I add, rolling my eyes. "How long have you been here?"

He shrugs. "Long enough."

Out of all the guys, Calem was probably the one I could relate to the most. Unlike them, he wasn't a total arrogant prick. Not to say that Ash was, either, but he just...I glance up at the boy, who was currently spinning in circles while a fly buzzed around his head.

I think the situation speaks for itself.

Too bad for me that Calem wasn't in that particular class.

"Hey, Xavier," Gary greets, trapping the boy in a headlock and giving him a noogie. I snicker, watching as Calem's expression goes from irritation by Gary's use of his last name to one of impending doom.

"Get off of me, Oak," he shouts, pushing Gary off of him. "A don't include me in that statement, Birch! I don't choose to study and only study every hour of the day. You should take some time off, live a little. Can't May just tutor you another time?"

'Here we go again,' I think to myself, sighing.

"No can do, Cynthia's been on my back about make up classes. Besides, I really need to devote myself to this if I want to do something with my future. You guys know better than anyone that I need to keep my grades up if I want to get any sort of job," I say back.

They go silent, gazing at me with looks of pure sorrow and pity.

"Stop. Stop looking at me like that! I don't want anyone's pity," I snap, and they both instantly look away.

"What do you mean?" Ash questions with fake innocence, rejoining the conversation.

It appeared as though the fly had won.

He may have been dense, but I knew that he knew well enough what I was talking about.

"You know exactly what I mean. Stop giving me pity stares because you feel bad for me," I tell them through gritted teeth, grabbing my books and standing up. "You know, sometimes I really wish that I'd never told you. Things were easier when you all never felt bad."

"Brendan, we don't mean t -"

"Don't, Oak," I grumble, shoving past them.

---

"Do you mind?"

May smiles at me, kicking out the seat next to her. "Not at all."

I grin back, dropping my books down on the table before plopping down beside her.

"I didn't think you'd be down here, tonight. Don't you and the others usually prank Rudy's lot?" she inquires, gazing back down at her work.

You couldn't blame Drew for liking her, she was pretty. It wasn't that hard to notice; with her bright, sapphire eyes and chocolate brown hair that fell just above her shoulders. Even hunched over homework in sweats and a tank top, May was still able to catch anyone's eye.

'Rudy's lot' were a group of guys that, much like half the guys in my on group, had a thing for the girls in May's clique. It was because of that very reason that they copped the blunt of our practical jokes, although Ash and Paul would never admit it.

Today however, the two of them had managed to snag time with their respective crush; meaning that there was no need to unleash their wrath on Rudy's friends.

"Yeah, well...Ash is off somewhere teaching Misty about Battle strategies or something, Calem decided to crash early because he's got an important test tomorrow, Paul muttered something about Dawn dragging him shopping and Drew got kept in for nicking Professor Oak's glasses," I explain, watching her eyes flash at the mention of Drew. "Oh, and Gary is over there."

She averts her gaze to the direction my thumb was jabbed in, scrunching up her nose at the sight of Gary and one of her best friends, Leaf Green, making out on a couch.

So, it was Leaf he meant earlier. Make that four of my group who had a thing for her friends.

She pretends to gag. "Ugh. what she sees in him, I'll never know. No offence."

I laugh. "None taken," I assure her. Honestly, I didn't get it myself. "Are you sure that you want to miss out on Cerulean with the others? We can always ch -"

"I'm fine with it, Brendan, really," she cuts me off, waving a hand dismissively. "Besides, I'd rather not spend the whole time watching them all flirt and having Drew tease me. I honestly don't know how you stand it."

"You learn to deal with it," I tell her, shrugging. "And I agree with you, I don't feel like spending my weekend with a bunch of idiots trying to impress your friends. The only thing that really gets tiring is them all bugging me because I've never had a girlfriend."

"You mean to tell me that the Grasshead actually managed to find a girl that would put up with him all weekend? Ha!"

"Actually, I think he's still under the impression that you're going," I tell her. She gazes at me questioningly, and I couldn't help but find it cute."Drew probably thinks that you'll end up hanging out with him," I elaborate.

"You're kidding me," she says, her face expressionless, and I shake my head. "I can't believe him. He's so arrogant! If that Grasshead just thinks that I would ju- did you say that you've never had a girlfriend?"

Damn, I was hoping she wouldn't catch on to that part. I shake my head slowly, not trusting myself with words,

"Wow, Brendan, I never would have thought that you...ah, don't worry about it," May says, taking my silence as confirmation.

"I, uh…" I stumble out, feeling the heat rush to my cheeks. "I guess I just never really thought about it."

It wasn't too much of a lie, and technically, I was telling the truth. Sort of, anyway…

"Ah, well, can't say that I blame you." She gives me a sort of half-smile. "Relationships are tricky things, I tell you. I just got dumped by my boyfriend. Apparently he's sick of me being away at school all the time."

"Oh...I'm sorry."

What are you supposed to say when someone tells you they got dumped?

"It's fine," May replies, her eyes twinkling. "My brother, Max, wanted to tell people that I got put into rehab or something instead of a Pokemon Boarding School Institution."

"That's family for you," I say back. "The rest of my family still don't believe that I got in here, they're convinced that it was impossible."

She stares at me in disbelief. "Why would they think it's impossible for you to get in here? You're one of the smartest people that I know," she remarks, gazing at me in confusion.

I squirm in my seat uncomfortably. This conversation was definitely steering in a direction that I was in no way comfortable with.

"It's a long story," I mutter, flipping open a random book. She seemed to take the hint, and nods at me. "So, why is he breaking up with you? Surely there must be another reason."

Maybe it wasn't the best topic to elaborate on, but we needed a distraction. Or at least, I did.

"Well, like I said before, he's sick of me being away all the time. That and the fact he's fed up with hearing about you and your friends," she explains, her cheeks dusting a light shade of pink.

Me?

"What?"

"Don't worry, I only mentioned good things! Well, about you at least. He wanted to know about the people I was hanging around with, so I wrote to him about the girls. Somewhere along the line we got on to tutoring, which included you. From you, I eventually got to Drew, Ash, Paul, Gary and Calem," May tells me.

"I don't see how that's any reason to end it," I point out.

Unless she told him that Drew wasn't aware of her relationship status, which I doubt she would have, considering we didn't know that she was taken. That probably wouldn't have been too bright of an idea.

"It's not, he's just overly jealous. He kept on complaining that I wrote to much about tutoring and Drew always nagging me. Not mention Gary and his...whatever you want to call it," May explains, gesturing to said boy. "I was planning to break things off, anyway."

"Ah, I see," I tell her, not really getting it at all. "Well, either way, I'm sorry about it."

"Thanks, I guess. He actually broke up with me a couple of weeks ago, but I got a letter yesterday from him saying that he wanted me back. That's why I'm writing this," she says, flashing the piece of paper in my face.

"What is it?"

"A very polite response, explaining in extreme detail just why I will never, ever make that mistake again!"

"Polite? May Maple?" I joke in fake shock.

"Eh, maybe just a little less polite and a bit more colourful with the vocabulary," May admits, eyeing me slyly. "Anyway, I think it's time that I get back to my dorm. Serena wanted help with impressing Calem or something. Meet you here tomorrow once they've left?"

Ah, Serena Yvonne; the girl Calem had his heart set on. Serena was in the same dorm as the other girls were, but she hung around with a different bunch of people.

"As long as I still get my morning toast, I'm good with anything," I confirm, grinning back at her.

"Catch you then," May says with a wink, collecting her belongings and standing up in one swift motion.

I gaze after her, feeling a sudden warmth spread through my chest.

---

"Brendan," a voice whispers in my ear, and I pull the covers tighter around myself.

"Go away," I mumble, still half asleep.

"Brendan Ruby Birch," the voice says, sterner this time. "If you don't get up this instant, I will burn all of your homework!"

"Anything but the homework!" I cry, shooting out of bed. Unfortunately, the universe seemed to be against me today, as I found out by tripping over the bed sheets and landing face-first on the wooden floor.

Wow, when the boys get back from their trip we were definitely going to need to talk about cleaning this place. The dust on the floorboards is so thick that I don't think I'll need breakfast this morning, seeing as I pretty much just swallowed half of it.

"About time, everyone else has already left!"

"May, maybe next time you could try using more conventional methods to wake me up," I manage to groan out.

She only rolled her eyes, sighing. Then a thought hit me.

"Wait, what do you mean they've already left? What time is it? And how the heck did you get in here?"

"The others left about an hour ago, it's one o'clock in the afternoon and I used the stairs, dummy," May jibes playfully, holding out a hand to me.

"Wow, I guess I was pretty tired," I say sheepishly, taking her offer.

"Maybe just a little," she agrees, a smirk forming across her delicate features.

Okay...that's just a little bit creepy. She was definitely spending way too much time around Drew if she was starting to smirk.

"Did they say what time they were getting back?" I ask her.

"No idea. Knowing them, they'll probably all get lost or something and arrive on Tuesday," May answers with a roll of her eyes. "Now get dressed, get your stuff and meet me in the library for your tutoring session."

"Already? But I just woke up!" I complain.

"You snooze, you lose," she remarks, giving me a wink as she turns to exit the room.

Sighing, I began to gather my things before searching around for something to wear. Where were my jeans, damn it?

"I don't believe this," I mutter in disbelief, throwing open my closet doors. "They took all my clothes!" Save my undergarments and a few jumpers, the buggers had apparently decided that borrowing my entire wardrobe wouldn't affect me at all.

"I am so going to get them back for this," I think, already plotting their deaths.

Stalking over to Drew's closet, I snatch out a T -Shirt, before grabbing a random pair of jeans from Gary's draws. Paul usually had relatively clean sneakers, so after putting on a pair of those and taking one of Ash's jacket's, I raced down the stairs with my equipment to the library.

Revenge would have to wait until they got back from Cerulean.

"Took you long en- are those your friends clothes?" May questions, raising an eyebrow upon noticing my appearance.

I sigh, dumping my books down and pulling up a seat next to her. "They thought it would be funny to renovate my closet to make it completely devoid of anything remotely wearable."

"That's horrible!"

Shrugging in response, I search the pile for the History textbook.

May shook her head and sighed, flipping open her textbook to a marked page."I don't know how you put up with it, Brendan. Honestly, I don't."

"You get used to it, I suppose. It's not like I haven't pulled pranks on them before, anyway, so I can't really complain. Don't you girls do the same thing?"

"Of course not!" she denies instantly, looking completely horrified at the very idea. "I mean, of course we play small jokes on each other, like stealing Leaf's Mars Bar stash or hiding Dawn's hair straightener once in a while. But we never do something that extreme."

Extreme? If she thought this was extreme, she obviously hadn't gotten word of the time we found Gary's 'special magazines', cut out the girls' heads and replaced them with pictures of ourselves.

I still don't think that he's fully recovered from that incident.

"I wouldn't call it extreme, exactly. The don't do it out of spite," I defend. "But I did need something to wear, and my options were pretty limited."

"And you didn't think to wear your uniform?" May points out.

"First of all, it's the weekend. We're stuck in that stuff all week, so I don't plan on wasting any time that I can get away from it. Secondly, you're not wearing it either," I accuse, gesturing to her own clothes.

I sweep my gaze over what she was wearing; a pair of dark, skinny leg jeans that accentuated her hips nicely, and a tight fitting red shirt. No, bad Brendan! I mentally smack myself. I wasn't supposed to be having those thoughts about May. Drew would murder me if he knew what I was thinking…

"I guess you have a point," she admits, a light giggle escaping her lips, and I feel my chest flutter a little at the sound.

"So...how's it going with the ex- boyfriend?" I question, trying to change the subject.

Oh, good one, Brendan. I'm sure that May totally wants to talk about her asshole of an ex, right? What an amazing subject selection.

"I already told you everything last night, and the letter was sent off this morning. I'll keep you posted, though," May tells me. "Oh, and speaking of boys, would you mind telling your friend to quit bugging me?"

I groan. "Look, I've already told Drew that

"Not Drew this time, actually. Although technically, it was Gary for Drew, so in a way you're right," she explains.

"Of course...when was it?" I inquire, not recalling any time yesterday that Gary could have pestered May about Drew. He was with Leaf for a good part of the evening, after all.

"This morning, just before they all left. I was planning on going to the car to see my own friends off, but then Gary waltzed on over and I decided not to."

"Ah. Sorry about them, when it comes to girls there really isn't any stopping Gary, and Drew probably offered to put in a good word about him to Leaf or something," I apologize.

"Don't apologize, it's not your fault," she says dismissively. "I'm glad to know that I'm friends with the one member of their group that doesn't follow that guy. I mean, we'd probably be friends, anyway, but it's nice to know that you don't bow down to him. You're just so much more different than the others."

I feel my cheeks heat up under her gaze. Where was she going with this?

"Eh, that's not entirely true," I admit, sheepishly.

"Oh. So you do follow everything he says," May replies, frowning.

"It's not exactly like that…" I trail off, noticing her expression. "The thing is, Drew is pretty much the one that really comes up with the stuff we do; he's like a leader. Gary does, as well, but he's in it for the girls, not the glory. Ash is a complete dimwit, so most of the time he just goes along with it. Paul tags along to make sure none of us get expelled, and Calem is like me. We all have our own forte, Drew's' just happens to be...Well, you," I tell her.

She's silent, and for a moment I'm worried that I've said something wrong...until she asks me something I don't expect.

"What's your forte?"

'...To steal Pokemon and make people's lives miserable?' I think to myself glumly. That is, after all, a Team Rocket Grunt's mission in life.

"School work," I tell her. It wasn't exactly a lie, was it? Apart from Calem, I was pretty much the only one who gave a crap about grades. Well...I'm sure that Ash would, but judging by his current attention span, not to mention the state of his wardrobe, I think it's best not to go down that particular road.

"So...that makes your forte getting copied from," May states, not sugar-coating it.

I don't say anything. We both know the answer, anyway.

"Lovely," she comments sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "But speaking of work, we should probably get started."

Remaining silent, I simply nod in response and grab my textbook.

"So, uh...what was the lesson about, anyway?" I ask after a moment, finally remembering that I have no idea which page to turn to.

May raises an eyebrow at me, before replying, "You're kidding me, right?"

I shook my head. To be fair, I had asked my friends, but none of them would give me a straight answer. At first, I'd shrugged it off. But even Calem wouldn't say anything, so I had been given the impression that this lesson wouldn't be one I was going to enjoy.

"Not even Miss. Cynthia?"

"The only thing she told me was that I was going to have to make this lesson up," I tell her, and she sighs.

"We're doing this whole term on Team Rocket," she explains, and I feel my mouth go dry.

Oh. Oh. So that explains why nobody would tell me what was going on. This was how much Cynthia hated me. She made sure that I would need to be tutored on the exact subject that I dreaded, yet knew absolutely everything about.

Yippee.

I don't say anything, and May takes it as an opening to continue.

"You know how we only do a little bit of studying on them each year? Well," she goes on, not waiting for a response, "Cynthia decided to make us do this massive review on them, so there'll probably be an exam at the end of term. Oh, and there's also a test next Friday."

"Thrilling," I manage to choke out, albeit sarcastically.

"Yeah, not exactly the most pleasant of subjects to choose from. I've been hearing tons about that Giovanni guy," May continues, shuddering. "He gives me the creeps. Who in their right mind would work for a man like that?"

"Beats me," I reply, looking down at my book. "Let's just get this over with."

For the next two hours, May went over everything they had learnt in class. With my new-found endless luck, note the sarcasm, Cynthia had specifically picked out Grunts as the area of study.

The only things I was able to get out were, "Uh huh" and "Mmhmm". She gave me worksheets to fill out, and I did them all in total silence. May, who was also revising as an added benefit, was extremely pale.

Though I heavily doubted she were as white as me.

"This is horrible!" she had cried out at one point, and I thanked my lucky stars that were was nobody else around. "Team Rocket Grunts not only poach Pokemon, but kill people. Sometimes Pokemon, as well. The abuse they put people through…"

"That's what they're known for, May," I had remarked, not bothering to hide the bitterness in my tone.

"Still," she insisted, scrunching up her face. "Does it really need to be mentioned here? Anywhere, really."

I shrugged, forcing myself to look straight at her. "Dunno. I think it'd be nice to have some sort of warning, you know?"

May frowned, and shut her own textbook quickly.

"No," she had insisted firmly, shaking her head. "Definitely not. I'd rather not have previous knowledge of how someone is going to murder me, thank you."

"Suit yourself." I, for one, would have preferred to know what was going on before my house was invaded and our lives threatened.

"I just don't understand how people can do these kinds of things," she told me, oblivious to my obvious discomfort. "It's just...despicable."

"Uh huh."

"Honestly, how could you go through with it? Personally, I wouldn't be able to live with myself," May had gone on.

"Mm."

She didn't say anything after that.

She suddenly stops, and looks up at me. A faint dusting of pink returns to her previously pale cheeks, her eyes filling with worry. I do a double take, and feel a wave of warmth spread throughout my body.

Oh crap.

No, no. No...no, no, no! There was no way I could have feelings for her. Anyone but her. Not May Maple. Drew would absolutely kill me. Forget the skills of a trained Grunt, I'd be unrecognizable once he was through with me.

"Brendan, are you alright?" she asks, her voice laced heavily with concern.

"Yeah," I get out, before regaining my composure. "I'm fine. Completely fine! Team Rocket's just...a touchy subject."

"Understandable," May replies with a nod, smiling softly. "Maybe we should take a break?"

"Oh, you mean from all this?" I say back, sticking a thumb in the direction of a stack of paperwork and books. "Let's."

May grins back, and I felt my chest clench.

No.

"How about we get a snack?" she suggests, and a nod quickly.

"Sure. The kitchen isn't too far, and I'm pretty certain the cooks will be more than happy to give us some cake or something," I agree, standing up.

At the mention of cake, May's face lit up entirely. "Really?"

"Yup," I reply, shrugging. "Don't tell the others, but I'm definitely their favourite out of the group."

She laughs, pushing back her own chair and standing up.

"Can't say I blame them. You're my favourite, too."

Half an hour later, we were sitting in an empty part of the school, sharing a massive plate of assorted desserts. May was currently chatting non-stop, but as I plucked another piece of cake from the platter, all I could hear in her voice was her disgust of Team Rocket. It hurt.

Don't get me wrong, it wasn't as though I liked them. Far from it.

"Hey, Brendan," she says suddenly, snapping me out of my reverie. "Truth or Dare?"

"Um...dare," I reply after a moment. She frowns in thought, before grinning.

"Give me the rest of that cake," she dares, and I laugh. Figures that it would be something simple. Dares were always way cooler with the guys. But hey, I'd take what I could get.

After passing her the rest of my cake and grabbing a piece of chocolate, I spoke, "Alright. Truth or Dare?"

"Truth," she chooses instantly. Ugh, of course. Why did girls always have to pick Truth?

"Let's see, then…" I trail off, pondering what I could possibly ask her.

Boys are not good at this stuff, it's a well known fact. I eyed her fingers, which were smothered in icing from the cake. Not for long, it seems, as she licked it off when she thought I wasn't looking.

Damn it.

Mew help me. I can't deny it anymore; I'm falling for May Maple.

I'd been denying it for weeks now, but I couldn't any longer. It was easier to just tell myself that she was a close friend. But it was that exact factor that had caused this to happen, even if I never intended it to.

Ever since late September as of last year, she had been tutoring me in Math. Although I had dropped that particular subject this year, we still remained good friends.

Thanks to our countless study sessions and night-watch patrol assignments as partners, May and I had become extremely close; something that Drew, even though he wouldn't be caught dead admitting it, was jealous of.

It had been then that I had begun to notice all of the little things.

Things like the way she would always tie her hair up when in class, and never take it out until the period was over. The way her eyes always sparkled differently depending on what she was feeling, or how they shifted to a darker blue when she was sad. The way she found my dry humor amusing, when most others found it tedious and annoying.

Naturally, I kept this to myself. If Drew knew of my feelings, he would probably murder me with whatever object was convenient at the time. Be it a pillow, suitcase, or carrot, he would make it happen and he would make it painful.

The others would assist him, too...aside from Ash, who wouldn't hurt a fly. But he'd probably stand guard or something.

"How about, uh...um, who was your most recent crush?" I rush out, unable to contain my curiosity any longer.

May's eyes bulge as she chokes on a biscuit.

"E-excuse me?" she manages to stutter out between coughs. "That's a little personal don't you think?"

Crap. I really hope she's not mad…I could feel myself beginning to turn red. Not a good thing.

"Well, you took my cake!" I accuse in an attempt to cover up my embarrassment. "You deserve it."

She remains silent, and I began to worry whether or not she would answer. Or, more importantly, how I'd feel from her answer.

"But we're sharing the platter!" May argues, pouting. I stared at her with a blank expression, and she eventually sighs. "Okay, you really want to know? Fine then."

"That's generally what Truth questions entail," I tease, earning a glare.

"I am so choosing dare next time," she mutters. "My most recent crush, and you cannot laugh, is one of your group. I'm not saying who!"

My jaw drops, and I feel my heart sink. "So...you finally fell for Drew, huh?"

With fake relief tracing my words, I keep an emotionless expression plastered on my face. Drew. Of course it was Drew. He'd been chasing after this girl for years, so it made sense that May would finally fall for him.

Anyway, he was the one all the girls wanted; guaranteed for a good time and wouldn't dump you within three days. That was more than anyone could say for the rest of us.

Gary's ways were well known, which was why I was confused as hell as to why Leaf of all people was sucking face with him earlier. As for the rest of us...well, that pretty much spoke for itself.

May swallows uncomfortably, choosing instead to eye a particularly interesting crack in the floor. My stomach flips, and my heart clenches once more.

Mew, I wasn't falling for this girl; I had already fallen.

I am so screwed.

"Look, May…that isn't a bad thing," I begin, forcing myself to believe that if I said it aloud it wasn't a lie. "You and Drew would make a great couple. An interesting one for sure, but...great. Yeah, great."

"It's not Drew," she whispers quietly, still eyeing the floor.

Well, that wasn't expected.

"Gary, then?" I guess. Surely if it wasn't Drew she was after, Gary would definitely be the one.

To my surprise, but immense relief, she scrunches up her face. "It's not Gary, Brendan."

Now I was seriously confused.

If it wasn't Drew or Gary, then who the hell was it? It couldn't be Ash, for sure. May wouldn't risk getting battered by Misty over that.

"Then Calem?" I try again. "I guess that could work, although I think he may have his eye on some girl named Sere-"

"Oh, for crying out loud!" May cries, cutting me off. "No! Just...no. It's not Calem, it's not Gary, and definitely not Hayden. Mew, no, not Hayden."

"So, A-"

"And don't even think about saying Ash!"

I blinked, stunned. "Paul?"

"I'd have a better chance of pursuing a relationship with a brick wall! Besides, we all know that Dawn is the only one who can handle him."

"But, May...that doesn't make sense!" I point out.

"Because you're the only one left?" she asks. "How does that not make any sense?"

By now, my face must have resembled a tomato.

"Because that would mean that you had a crush on me, and that isn't possible," I say. "You can't like me, I'm a-" I quickly catch myself, and snap my mouth shut. Crap, that was a close one.

May frowns. "Because you're a what, Brendan?"

"I'm...I...I don't know!" I yell, unable to come up with a good excuse. "I'm just not likable."

She laughs, and smiles at me. "Says who? Brendan, I liked you way before all of this."

"Well, as a friend, sure. But anything else...I'm just not date-able," I argue, desperate to prove my point while keeping my dignity intact.

"Oh, please," she says, rolling her eyes. "Whatever gave you that idea?"

I remain silent, not able to get my brain to form an excuse. Sure, there were pages worth that were on the tip of my tongue, but it's not like I could relay any of those to her.

"Fine, then. You're not likable," she agrees, shrugging. "Truth or Dare?" May moves her body closer to mine, so close that I can feel the heat radiating from her.

"Truth," I choose instantly, out of fear that she would dare me to kiss her or something.

Instead, her mouth curves into a small smile as she asks, "Do you like me?"

What?

I froze, and all train of thought came to a halt. Damn. How could I have not seen this coming? What the hell could I say to that?

"Well, do you?" she demands, moving closer when I don't answer.

Her lips were so close to my own, and I couldn't think straight. I could smell the mint on her breath, though it was almost overpowered by the sweets we had shared. Ah! What was I thinking? Now was not the time to be focusing on her lips.

Sapphire eyes bore into my own crimson ones, glimmering with hope but ready for rejection.

I wanted desperately to give her rejection. Oh, how I wanted to. I couldn't do this. Not to Drew, not her, and not to myself. It wasn't fair, not to any of us. When she discovered my secret, it would only be all the worse.

Unfortunately, my mind mouth seemed to have different ideas.

"Yes," I breathe out, and the next thing I knew her lips were on mine.

---

May and I agreed to keep this a secret, at least for a little while. This being due to two reasons; I needed to figure out how to inform Drew without being pounded, and I had to work around her finding out the truth about my past.

She, for one, was more than happy to announce it to the world, but I had managed to convince her to keep it low.

The weekend had passed, and when the others came back from Cerulean night had already fallen.

"Hey," Drew had greeted, the rest of them trudging in after him. Aside from Paul, who had been coerced into helping Dawn with her night-watch because her usual partner was sick.

"Hi," I replied, too afraid to look at him.

"Someone's cheerful," Gary commented sarcastically, and I looked up to notice that he had gained a black eye.

"How was it? Break up with Leaf already?"

Gary rolled his eyes, plopping down into a chair. "For your information, I got this from Melody," he explained. "She was threatening to fight with Leaf, so I stepped in and she gave me this."

Ah, right. Leave it to Gary to get beat up while defending his girlfriend from an ex, and by Melody of all people. Leaf was more than capable of defending herself, definitely more than Gary, by the looks of things.

"Oh, how heroic of you," I said back, sarcastically.

"And I actually like Leaf, thank you very much," he went on. "I don't plan to cut off ties with this one."

We had all stared at him blankly.

"What?"

"Uh, huh," Drew said back, rolling his eyes. "I'm sure."

"I don't!" Gary defended, and the rest of us laughed.

"So, how was your weekend?" Drew inquired, and I forced myself to look at him.

I shrugged, before replying, "Pretty boring. May and I mostly worked, and then we snuck into the kitchen and the cooks gave us this massive plate of food."

Well, it wasn't exactly a lie.

"You brought her to the kitchen?" Drew said back, disbelief heavy in his tone.

"Yeah? Is there- oh." Right. I forgot about that.

"I thought we made it a rule that we only brought our girlfriends there," Gary interjected, raising an eyebrow.

...Still wasn't breaking any rules.

"Exactly!" Drew cried, staring at me accusingly. "We made that agreement ages ago."

"Sorry, sorry! I forgot, okay?" I rushed out desperately. "We were hungry. Besides, May already knows that rule," I point out. "It was just a tutoring session. It's not like we stayed there."

"Oh," Drew said, backing off.

"Anyway...how were your dates?" I question, eager to change the subject.

"Mine wasn't a-"

"Great!" Ash butted in, cutting Drew off. "Mist and I really made progress."

"Right, if by 'progress' you mean her pummeling you for staring at her when she was in a bikini," Calem piped up, sarcastically.

"Hey! That was an accident," Ash defended.

"How can you accidentally stare at a girls rear end?" Gary asked, staring at the boy with a blank expression.

"At least I didn't get bitch slapped for groping one!" Ash yelled back.

"Now that was an accident!"

"I'm sure," Calem muttered.

"Right, beca-"

"Anyway," Drew interjected, glaring at the two before this could go any further. "One of their friends, Jess, seemed quite interested in you."

It took a moment before I realized he was talking to me.

"Huh?"

"Yeah," Gary joined in. "She's a total bookworm, just like you."

"Oh, and get this; she's seriously interested in Team Rocket!" Drew explained, grinning.

"Total Grunt advocate," Gary agreed. "She really believes that we should be looking into and focusing more on the way they're treated. Perfect girl for you, right?"

My lips formed into a tight smile as I replied, "Sure. Maybe I'll tag along next time."

"You are tagging along. Next time we aren't taking any of your excuse for an answer."

---

May's hand slips effortlessly into mine as we pace along the empty corridors. Night watches were extremely boring, and were always event less. We didn't have to worry about being spotted, as the newer year levels were too chicken to try and sneak out.

Thankfully for us, the night patrol pairs were set for the entirety of two years, which came in quite handy. Now that we were dating, it had gotten a whole lot more interesting. Seeing as we were now secretly dating, it was the only time we could act even remotely like a real couple.

At first, it was unbelievably awkward. The clumsy kisses and sweaty palms made things all the more difficult, but after a while we go used to it. It became like a second nature, and soon enough, I began to enjoy it.

"So," May began, and I wrap an arm around her shoulders. "Truth or Dare?"

"You have an unhealthy obsession with that game," I comment, laughing.

"Perhaps just a little," she admits, grinning. "I got another letter from my ex."

"Oh? What did it say?"

"That he's moved on," May says, rolling her eyes. "And that he's sorry for carrying on. He wants to stay friends, though. Can you believe it? Ha!"

Frankly, I didn't understand what the big deal in that was. But I pretended to know what she was saying, and nodded instead.

"I seriously hate it when guys say that," she continues. "How can you stay friends after a breakup? I mean, I've seen it happen, but it's just...I don't know. It's so weird."

I shrug in response.

We continue to walk in a comfortable silence, looking out for any wandering students. Even though nobody was stupid enough to sneak out, my friends were an exception. I had to be careful to particularly keep an eye for one of them, just in case May had to yank her hand from mine all of a sudden.

"Hey, Brendan?" May pipes up, coming to a halt.

"Huh? Is everything okay?" I ask, a little worried.

"What? No, everything is fine!" she quickly replies, giggling. "I just...can we try something?"

I stare at her, confused as to what she meant...until I felt two small hands grabbing my shoulders and all of a sudden our foreheads were pressed together.

I took in a quick breath at the sudden closeness in proximity, but didn't back away.

"Sure," I breathe, and all of a sudden we were in our own world. Only this time, it didn't come to a blissful end.

Because Calem Xavier appeared from an archway down the hall.

"What the hell!" he yells, his eyes bulging at the sight of us.

May and I instantly spring apart, fear and dread running through me. Calem's face was a mixture of shock and anger, his eyes accusing.

"Shit," May whispers, her own eyes displaying worry. Not for herself, but for me.

She could say that again; we were so busted.

"Calem! I...we, are you...where are the others?" I stumble out, my palms beginning to sweat uncontrollably. If anyone else was here...if Drew was here, I was screwed.

He glared daggers at me, yanking off a backpack that I hadn't noticed earlier and pulling the zipper open to reveal an assortment of snacks.

"They're all upstairs, so you won't have to worry about them seeing this little scene," Calem sneers. "But I can't say they'll be too happy once they hear about you betraying Drew like this. Damn it, Birch, what in the hell are you thinking?"

I flinch; we only used last names when one of us was either really mad, or teasing. I seriously doubted that Calem was in a playful mood, so I'm going to go with the former. Taking a deep breath, I compose myself and frown at him.

"I'm thinking that I have every right to be kissing my girlfriend," I snap back, sounding way more confident than I felt. He winces slightly, before his expression turns to one of pure shock.

"Your girlfriend?" Calem cries in horror, before letting out a long groan. "Brendan, when we bugged you about dating, we didn't mean to go and start making out with Drew's girl!"

"I'm hardly Drew's girl," May voices, a look of disgust crossing her face. "And I'm not his property, either, so I'd appreciate it if you'd all stop acting like I am."

Calem's eyes darted between the two of us. "Drew's going to kill you, Brendan."

"I think I worked that part out for myself," I reply, rubbing my temple.

"We agreed long ago that nobody goes after another one's crush! How could you do this?"

"I do not belong to Hayden!" May hisses out, gritting her teeth. "I can date whomever I please, and so can Brendan. You have no control over me, and neither does Drew!"

Calem simply glares back at her.

"Please, Calem," I beg, switching to my last resort. "Don't tell them. Mew knows Ash can't keep a secret, and Gary would tell Drew. They're like brothers!"

He looked at me for what felt like forever, before finally speaking, "May, can I talk to Brendan?"

"Go right ahead," she replies, staying right where she was.

"Alone."

"Whatever you can say to him, you can say to me," she insists, standing her ground. "We're both in this."

"May...I think it's better if you go," I say slowly, regretting it the moment the words left my lips.

"What?" she asks, hurt filling her eyes. "You don't trust me or something?"

"No!" I say quickly, waving my hands. "It's nothing like that! It's just-"

"Truth or Dare?" she suddenly asks, continuing before I get a chance to reply, "oh, look, you chose Truth! Do you trust me or not?"

"O-of course I do!" I say, gulping. She sounded dangerous, and I knew that one wrong move would cause me to lose them both.

"Good. Truth or Dare?" she asks again, once again continuing, "dare? Well, someone's being risky tonight! I dare you to let me stay."

I sigh, this wasn't going to end well.

"May, please," I beg once again, desperation seeping into my tone. "Just let us talk for a little bit, just one minute. Please."

She growls and begins to move towards me. Calem quickly stood between us, and I let out a breath of relief. Until he spoke, that is.

"No. On second thought, let her stay," he begins, turning to smile at me wickedly. "I think there might be a few things May here would be interested in hearing."

"Calem," I plead. He was going to tell her everything, and I could not let that happen.

"What would I be interested in hearing?" May demands, glaring at the both of us.

"Nothing!" I deny, but she wasn't having any of it.

"If there's nothing to worry about, then why can't I stay?" she asks.

She moves around Calem, and this time he doesn't stop her. He begins shifting forward, too, and they're both getting closer.

"May, Calem, just...please," I choke out. They were getting even closer now, and I began to panic. Ever since my time in Team Rocket, I had gained serious claustrophobic issues. Closer...closer…"I can't breathe!"

Both of them jump back in alarm at my outburst instantly, and I drop to the ground. Taking deep pants, I tried to regain myself. A hand gently places itself on my shoulder, and I look up to see May gazing down in concern.

"Hey, I'm sorry," she apologizes softly. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I manage to speak after a few more breaths. "Claustrophobic."

Calem sighs, and I looked up to see him eyeing me with pity. I could tell he was still angry, but most of the rage had gone and was now replaced with concern.

"Look, I need to get back to the others," he states. "They'll probably come looking for me if I'm not there soon, and to be honest, I don't want anyone finding out about this tonight. Let me off for sneaking around this time?"

I thank my lucky stars that Calem has a good heart. He may have been furious before, but even though he wouldn't say it, he'd rather not have to snitch on me. He was loyal to Drew, but I knew that he was loyal to me, as well.

The last thing Calem wanted was to be the cause of our destroyed friendship.

"Only if you let us off," May states firmly, crossing her arms.

He nods in agreement. "Fine. But if I catch you again, I will tell Drew." With that, he walks passed us and headed back to where the others were.

I glance at May out of the corner of my eye, and saw that she had a stoic expression plastered on her face.

"Oh, and Brendan?" Calem calls out, and I spun around to face him. "We will be talking about this."

He may have cared for me, but Drew was his friend, too. The message was clear; You can do what you want as long as I don't see it. But the moment I do, your secrets out.

---

May and I stay silent for what feels like forever, with me still on the floor and her leaning down with one hand on my shoulder. I had desperately been trying to collect my thoughts, knowing that she was going to want answers. I didn't know if I was ready for this, but I guess it didn't matter whether I was ready or not.

I just wished she would hurry and get it over with.

That's always the worst part; waiting for it to begin. The suspense, knowing that it was going to happen, but not knowing when. It was almost enough to make me scream.

"Truth or Dare," she finally whispers, and my breath catches in my throat. Both choices were as horrible as the other.

I couldn't tell the truth.

"Dare," I breathe back, somehow hoping that it would help me escape this nightmare. May seemed to be expecting it, and I should have known better.

"I dare you to tell me what the hell all of this is about," she demands firmly. "And don't give me your excuses, I want to know what's going on."

"What exactly do you want to know?" I ask quietly.

"Everything. You know what I'm talking about. Why didn't you want me there when you were talking to Calem? What's the real reason you think you're not date-able? Why do you always skip Cynthia's classes?" she demands. I stare back at her, not knowing what to say. "Don't give me that look, Brendan. Yes, I noticed. How could I not?"

"That...that just sounds like a massive Truth," I try, attempting weakly to get out of answering.

"Brendan," she warns.

"May, I don't think this is a good idea."

"I dared you to tell me," she insists. I sigh, and shrug her hand off of me. Standing up slowly, I back up a few steps, not wanting to be too close when she hears.

Just so that I don't have to deal with her pushing me away when she finds out the truth.

"Just...try not to scream, alright?" I tell her, and she scoffs.

"Why would I scream? Brendan, you're being absolutely ridiculous."

"I still don't think that this is a good idea, but if you want to know the truth so bad, then fine. Just don't say I didn't warn you," I tell her.

"I'm pretty sure that anything you say to me now will not have me screaming. I'm not a baby, Brendan, I can handle it," she says, clearly irritated.

"You'll regret saying that. There's no easy way to put this, so I'll just come out with it. I...I…" I trail off, taking a deep breath. "I'm an ex-Team Rocket Grunt, okay? Are you happy now?"

I shut my eyes, waiting for the screams...

They don't come.

After a moment of silence, I force my eyes open, half expecting her to be gone or unconscious on the floor. She's not.

May is gaping at me with wide, unbelieving sapphire orbs. Her face is shocked, and completely pale. "That," she hisses, "is a sick, disgusting joke, Brendan Birch."

Oh, great. I finally reveal my darkest secret to her, and she doesn't believe me. Wonderful.

"It's not a joke, May," I tell her, seriousness plastered over my face.

"I don't believe you!" she yells furiously. "Tell me the truth!"

"I am telling you the truth, May," I say calmly, not wanting to frighten her.

"No," she mutters, as if trying to convince herself. "You're not. You can't be. Where's your proof?"

I sigh, reaching for the thick, black watch that I always wore around my wrist. Ever since Lance disbanded Team Rocket, the Grunts were forced to have a mark permanently inked onto their left wrist. This way, they could be identified if need be.

She eyes my fingers like a hawk, not blinking. I pause. Very few people had seen this mark, those being the guys and a couple of select teachers at this school. I'd hoped to keep it that way, but it looked like that particular wish wasn't coming true.

"Brendan?" she whispers, determined to believe that I was lying.

Taking another deep breath, I undo the strap and push it along my arm, revealing the ink mark that branded me as a traitor. May's mouth forms into an perfect circle as she took in the sight of what was etched into my skin. Lance had personally created it himself, taking every precaution necessary.

"There, I told you," I mutter. It was more to myself than her.

May was completely pale, eyes wide and watching me in shock-horror. Her hands were shaking, and my chest clenched at the sight of it.

"You can run," I tell her bitterly. "Really, you can. I understand."

Hell, I was disgusted with myself for what I was. What she must have felt...I couldn't even begin to imagine. She remains silent for a few moments, before taking a shaky breath. "N-n-no...Brendan, I'm n-not going to r-run."

I laugh bitterly. "Truth or Dare?"

"D-Dare," she replies.

I gaze at her darkly. "I dare you to tell me the truth," I say. "Do you want to run?"

May takes another deep breath, and it seems as though she's fighting an inner battle with herself.

"I'm not going to lie to you, Brendan. A part of me wants to run. It wants to run really bad. But...the other part tells me that nothing has changed."

I look at her in confusion. Why isn't she running yet?

"What do you mean?"

"You're...you're still Brendan, right? That hasn't changed. You're still the same boy that I know," she states, although it sounds like she's trying to convince herself more than me.

"May," I begin seriously, "I'm a traitor. I hurt people. I'm the most hated thing in existence."

"That's not tr-"

"Everyone hates Team Rocket," I state bluntly. "You hate Team Rocket, and you hate Grunts. You said so yourself, they're horrible people. Look me in the eye and tell me that you don't believe that what I am isn't a monster."

She stares at me for a moment.

"Brendan…" she starts softly. "Yes, it's true. I don't like Team Rocket, and I think that they're horrible people..."

I smile at her sadly. "That's what I thought." I begin to walk away, my chest tighter than ever before, when her hand suddenly grabs mine.

"But I don't think that you're one of them."

I stare at her in disbelief. "May, I just told you that I am. You've seen my mark, I'm an ex-Grunt! I-"

"That's not what I mean," she says. "I meant that you're not like Team Rocket."

"You're shaking for a reason, May, and it's not just the shock. You're scared of me," I point out, and by the way she stiffens, I know I'm right.

"I'm not going to deny that I'm afraid, Brendan," she admits.

"Then why don't you just get it over with, already? Just make it easier for the both of us and leave," I snap.

She flinches, and I know that I've been too harsh. "I'm not going to run, and I'm not leaving," she says firmly.

"Why? You know what I am, and it's the one thing you hate most."

"Brendan...why were you in Team Rocket?" she asks gently.

I scoff. "What difference does it make?"

"Just answer the question," she demands, and I sigh.

"It doesn't change anything. The fact is that I was still one of them," I insist stubbornly. Why should it matter? The reason I was there doesn't make a difference.

"Were you forced, or did you seek them out?" Her question stops me in my tracks, and I stare at her.

"Forced," I reply, confused. "But how does that-"

To my surprise, she laughs. "Brendan, I know that not all Grunts were willing. In fact, most who were a part of Team Rocket were threatened somehow. You're one of those ones, aren't you?"

I nod, still not understanding what difference it made.

"You're not a bad person, Brendan," she says, taking both of my hands in her own.

"I've done horrible things, though," I insist.

"That doesn't make you one of them. Just because you were there, it doesn't mean you wanted to be. You aren't going to hurt me, and you've never hurt anyone here."

"But I don't understand...I was still a part of their organisation. How can you look passed that?"

"Easy; you're still the same boy than you were before you told me. So you have a mark, big deal. It's not what you're labelled as that matters; it's who you are that counts," May tells me, smiling.

I remain silent, taking in everything that she said. What on Earth did I ever do to meet someone like her? May was perfect in every way. We stay like that for a few moments, before I finally pluck up the nerve to ask the dreaded question.

"I guess we're over, then," I say, looking anywhere but her.

"What?" she questions, confusion crossing her face. I still can't bear to look at her in the eye.

"You accepted me. I think it's too much to ask for anything else."

"Brendan," May says softly, a light laugh escaping her lips. "I'm not going to break up with you."

I whip my head around in shock, staring at her in disbelief.

"B-but, you...me, I, we...why?" I stutter, not able to comprehend why in the world she would stay my friend, let alone girlfriend after what I've confessed.

"Because I'm pretty sure that I'm in love with you."

---

Later on, I creep stealthily into the dormitory designated for our group. Thankfully, I manage to sneak in without being spotted or waking anyone else up.

Unfortunately, a guy can only get so lucky. And I'm pretty sure that I've had enough luck in one night to last me a lifetime. Or seven, but who needs calculations? I dropped Maths, anyway.

All of a sudden I felt myself being pulled into the bathroom, the door snapping shut swiftly as Calem flipped the lock.

"Okay, spill," he demands, glaring at me expectantly.

Sighing I sat down, and began from the beginning. Calem didn't interrupt, only listened from start to finish. By the time I was done, his expression was one of awe.

"And for your information, I'm still in bloody shock that she didn't dump me," I tell him.

He scoffs. "That's hardly surprising."

Now it was my turn to be shocked. "What?"

"Well, Wally's always going on about how she's mega forgiving and all that stuff," he explains. "He should know; they are good friends after all. Apparently May has always been one to look past flaws and see the best in people."

"Can't say the same for Drew," I mutter, and we both chuckle. Well, he wasn't wrong about the forgiveness thing.

" he said that she's liked you for a long time now," Calem continues, and I frown.

"Hang on," I interject. "You knew that she liked me?"

He shrugs. "Sure, Wally told me months ago that she had a thing for you. I just never thought that you'd reciprocate." He gives me an accusing look, and I stare at the sink, guiltily.

"Look...I never meant to get involved with her. But I just couldn't help it," I tell him, running a hand through my hair.

"I know, I know," he says, waving dismissively. "To be honest, I'm not mad. Despite what happened earlier. Shocked? Sure. but not angry."

"Drew's going to castrate me, isn't he?" I ask, already picturing how that particular scenario will play out.

Calem gapes at me. "You're seriously planning on telling him?"

"Of course," I say. "You of all people know how much I hate keeping secrets from you guys, and it was killing me to keep May one. Besides, the longer I put it off the worse it's going to be."

"Yeah, I understand," Calem agrees, nodding. "I just thought that you'd wait a little longer, you know? Just until you and May got a bit more serious."

"That was the original plan," I admit. "But since you already know, I might as well come out with it sooner than later. If they find out you know, you'll be screwed, too."

---

"Brendan," May hisses. "Why can't we just come out, already? I don't know how much longer I can keep this up."

"Keep what up?" I reply lazily, too absorbed in the paperwork before me.

She sighs, putting down her pencil. "I just...keeping this a secret is more difficult than I thought," she tells me, and I look up from the sheets.

"What are you talking about, May? You were fine with it before," I point out.

"That was before this got serious!" she whisper-shouts, looking over her shoulder to make sure nobody was watching. "It was easier before, but I'm tired of having to go behind people's backs all the time. Misty, Dawn, and Leaf are on my case about getting a boyfriend, you know."

"It's not like we have much longer. Only another year and we'll be out of here, and it won't be a secret anymore," I assure her. I didn't get what the big deal was. She could keep it a secret before, so what was wrong with doing it now?

"But why should we have to wait?" she insists. "What's the difference between saying something know and waiting until school's over?"

"If there isn't any difference, why can't we wait?"

"If there's no difference, why can't we come out? Calem found out a month ago, and then you were pretty eager on not keeping it from the rest of them for much longer."

"May…please, not now," I plead, and she sighs.

"Fine," she snaps, letting up this once. "But what am I supposed to do about the girls? Cheat on you?"

"If that's what it takes," I mutter, and she bangs a fist on the table.

"Brendan!" she yells. "I'm being serious, here."

I frown. "So am I, May. We'll talk about this later, when we're in private."

"No, Brendan. Now!"

"This isn't about us, okay?" I force out through gritted teeth. "This is about...you know."

"Don't lie to me, damn it!" May screeches. "This has nothing to do with that Brendan, and you know it. Tell me what your problem is!"

I remain silent, staring at her anger filled eyes. All of a sudden it clicks, and her expression shifts to one of realization.

She scoffs, disbelief lacing her voice, "Of course. It's Drew, it's always about Drew. I don't care what he thinks, okay? I'm not in love with him, Brendan. I chose you!"

"Do you think that matters?" I snap, glaring at her. "He's my best friend, okay? I can't just destroy years of friendship like that."

"So you're saying that we can't be together because of Drew?" she seethes "Because if that's what it is, then we might as well end this right now."

"No! I'm not saying that at all...I'm just asking for more time, okay? Please. Just give me some more time. I promise that we'll tell him soon."

"Gotta go," I announce, jumping off the bed and heading towards the door. Night patrol wasn't for at least another ten minutes, but I wanted to talk to May beforehand. I had to do it. I couldn't keep this going on any longer. It wasn't fair on her, and it wasn't fair on me.

I had to break things off with her.

Drew and Gary immediately scrambled to their feet, blocking the exit.

"Whoa, no you don't," Gary says, holding up his hands and frowning. Oh, crap. Did they know? Did Calem say something?

"What's with you two?" I ask nervously. "I have night watch."

Drew grips my arm tightly, threateningly even, and I glance up at him with a guilty expression.

"More like what's with you? You don't have to leave for another twenty minutes,' he states.

"I'd like to be on time," I say, shrugging.

"Calem," he says sternly. "We're worried about you."

"Drew," I mimic. "Then I wouldn't suppose you'd mind letting go. You're hurting me."

He retracts his arm as if it had burnt him. "Sorry, I guess I got a bit carried away," he apologizes.

"Gee, ya think?"

"Don't change the subject," Gary interjects, frowning. "You're different, lately."

"How so?" I ask.

"Just...I'm not sure how to explain it," he admits. "Distant, I suppose?"

"Distant?" I repeat, looking at the brunette confusedly.

"He's right," Drew agrees. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything is fine," I tell them, eager to leave. May was going to kill me if I was late. "I'm always like this, aren't I?"

In the corner, Calem looks up from his card game with Ash with interest.

"Quiet? Yeah, I guess," Drew says, staring at me quizzically. "Completely silent? Definitely not. I've just been seeing you studying with May a lot, and…" he trails off, a vacant look dawning across his face.

He knew! He had to know.

My life was over.

"That's it!" he cries, sticking a finger in my face, accusingly. "You're obsessing over your grades again, aren't you?" I breathe out an enormous sigh of relief, and from the corner of my eye, I saw Calem do the same.

"Yeesh, dude. That tests aren't for another year, you've still got tons of time to study," Gary comments, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, you're going to pass with the highest score in the school," Drew states matter-of-factly. "In fact, you'll probably get more than Gary, Ash and myself combined."

"C'mon, guys. Cut him some slack, would ya?" Calem calls out as I stumble for words, and I had never been more grateful. "It's not the tests he's worried about, it's what comes after them."

Calem, I could kiss you right now!

...okay, maybe not. But you get my meaning. Ash looks up from his cards in confusion. "You mean work 'n stuff?"

Well, what do you know. Ash's denseness actually came in handy for a change.

"Exactly," Calem agrees, and I nod along with them dumbly.

"Yeah...they're right," I quickly rush out. "There aren't exactly a bucket load of options for me, are there?"

"Oh," Drew and Gary say in unison.

"Well, you know we're more than happy to help you out anytime, dude," Gary tells me, grinning.

"Yeah," Drew joins in. "We're always here if you need us."

I had never felt more guilty in my entire life than in this very moment.

And May was seriously going to rip my arm off.

"Thanks guys, I appreciate it," I tell them, managing a smile.

"I still feel bad, though," Gary starts, and I glare at him. "Hey, don't give me that look! Drew, he's glaring at me again!"

Calem smacks the cards against his face. "You're pitying him again, idiot."

"Oh right, sorry," Gary apologizes. "But just hear me out, okay?" I blink at him.

"I'm not feeling bad for you because of everything that sucks in your life, which I'm sorry to admit is a crap load. I feel bad because we've all sort of been absent lately, and I want to make up for that. We haven't snuck out in ages, or pulled a prank," he explains, and as much as I hate to admit it, I have to agree.

"He's got a point," Drew agrees. "It feels like we've all been growing apart, which is something we all vowed to never do."

I feel a rush of guilt pass through me at the realization of just how right they were.

You know what? Screw it. I've missed my friends, May can wait. Sure, she'll be mad, but she'll get over it.

Gary had been busy with his new found knowledge that a healthy relationship is actually possible, so him and Leaf were usually together. Drew had been extra busy with his sports and stuff, although I hadn't missed his attempts to gain May's affection. If anything, they had gotten more and more constant, with him even giving her roses every time he saw her.

I'd be lying if I said it didn't tick me off, but it wasn't his fault. How was he to know she was taken? Plus, it was pretty funny.

Ash had been with Misty most of the time, practicing new strategies or going off to Cerulean on weekends to 'learn more about water type Pokemon'. Yeah, right. They still weren't officially dating, but anyone with half a brain was smart enough to see that those two were practically a couple without a label.

Calem had been off with some other group of people. Travis, Tierno, Shauna and Serena, I think. They were always with their Pokemon, so it was practically study for him, which worked just as well as studying theory. As for me, well...I'd been working my butt of studying with May, as well as keeping our relationship a secret.

Even Paul had been occupied with Dawn as of late.

"Hey, how about we ditch tomorrow?" Gary suggests. "You said so yourself, it's been ages since we've done anything together. So why not?"

"Sounds good to me. Who's up for it?" Drew asks, grinning.

"Count me in!" Ash shouts, throwing his cards in the air.

"Might as well," Calem says, shrugging.

"Hn," Paul grunts, but one couldn't miss the minuscule smile that formed on his lips.

"Oh, what the hell," I agree.

"And guys, I've been thinking about giving up on May," Drew confesses, shuffling his feet.

"What!" we all chorus in unison.

Drew sighs, scratching his head. "Well...it's just that I've been trying so hard for so long, and nothing seems to be working. I've even tried giving her roses, guys. Roses."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure the whole school knows about that," Gary jabs, rolling his eyes. "Who knew you could be such a sap?"

"She just broke up with her boyfriend," I announce before I can think it through, and all eyes in the room turn to me.

Me and my big mouth.

"Boyfriend?" Drew repeats, throwing me a question glance.

"Yeah. That's why you haven't been having any luck; May's been dating someone," I explain. "Some guy from off campus, real jerk if you ask me." It wasn't exactly a lie...May had been dating someone, even if it was months ago. Besides, although we weren't official, we technically were dating.

"That explains so much!" Drew cries, smacking a hand to his face.

I laugh, despite the obvious awkwardness that I should be feeling. Calem is looking at me funny, but right now I don't care. Sure, she's my girlfriend, but I'm going to break up with her. May deserves to be happy, and Drew is definitely someone I know that will do that.

"You know what?" Gary begins, and we all turn to look at him. "We should pull one tonight."

"I thought we were doing that tomorrow?" Ash pipes up.

Gary shrugs. "Well, yeah, but why not do one tonight? We're long overdue, anyway."

"I see no problem with it," Drew agrees, bopping his head.

"But who do we prank?" Calem asks. "I'm pretty sure we've got the whole school covered, there."

I quickly glance at the clock; it's officially ten minutes after the time May and I planned to meet. Forget 'screw it', she was going to have my head!

"Brendan, your mission is to keep May distracted. We'll work out the rest," Drew instructs.

I salute, yelling,"Aye, captain!" as I rush out of the door.

'No problem there, I should have zero problem doing that as I break up with her,' I think to myself, bitterly.

I was so dead.

---

"You were late!" May screeches, unable to keep it in any longer.

It had been roughly half an hour since I'd finally turned up, and she hadn't said a word since then. Truthfully, I'd been hoping it would stay that way.

"I'm sorry," I apologize, although it held no meaning. "The guys kept me back. They're worried that I've been obsessing over the future, too much."

Technically, this wasn't a lie.

"Obsessing over the future," she mutters, shaking her head. "To be honest, Brendan, you don't seem to be thinking about the future much. Not when it comes to me, anyway."

"Well, you know what they say; you always want what you can't have, don't you?" I reply bitterly, and she gives me a sad glance. "Don't look at me like that."

"I'm sorry," she whispers, before changing the subject. "You said we'd talk, right?"

"Yeah, I did. Look, here's the thing...we would have to keep this a secret from way more than just our friends," I begin, slipping my hand out of hers.

"What do you mean?" she inquires, tilting her head in confusion.

"The League. They keep tabs on ex-Rockets, and so does every other official. Right now I'm a minor, so they're not as picky when it comes to me," I tell her. "But things are going to be more complicated once I'm older."

"I still don't get where you're going with this," she admits, and I take another deep breath.

"It's enemies that the League is always watching out for, right?" I ask, and she nods. "As far as they're concerned, any Grunt is an enemy in their eyes."

"Brendan, we've been over this," she says, groaning.

"No, May," I stop her, seriousness heavy in my voice. "Whether I was forced to or not doesn't matter. They're not looking for excuses, they're looking for results. If they get word that we're together, you'll be under investigation, too."

"Do you really think that that matters to me? Brendan, I don't care abou-"

"You don't understand," I mutter. "May, I don't want your life to be over just because of me. "Just because I'm an ex-Rocket, that doesn't make it any less of a risk.""

"How will my life be over?" she demands, placing her hands on her hips. "It doesn't matter!"

"Yes, it does," I repeat slowly, trying to drill it into her head. "This...us, it can't go on. I can't let it go further than this."

She freezes, her face falling and I immediately feel guilt at what I'm about to do.

'It's for the best,' I remind myself.

"No," she whispers, pleadingly. "Please, Brendan. Don't...don't say it."

"May," I begin gently. "We both know it'd be for the best. You know that we'd be better off as friends."

May winces, and I suddenly remember that she hated when guys said that. I'm really not doing too well today.

"Yeah, I'm sure," she bites back, bitterness seeping into her words. Tears were clouding her eyes, and I quickly wipe, my own to relieve them of the sting. "Like that ever actually works."

"We're different," I insist.

"How?" she challenges.

"It's not like our relationship was ever made public, right? So it won't be any different," I tell her.

"So...I'll still tutor you, and everything will be the exact same as before?" she confirms, sniffing, and I nod. "I understand, Brendan, really I do. I just...I wish it didn't have to be this way."

"Believe me when I say that I do, too," I admit.

Because really, in another life I would do things differently.

"Now that I think about it, I guess you're right," she says softly, pondering my earlier words. "Your friends would hate you, for one thing."

"Not to mention if who I am ever got out, you'd be shunned for life," I add, laughing at the glare she throws my way. "I know, I know; you don't care what anyone else thinks."

"And don't forget it," she replies.

"Anyway, we both know that I'm not exactly relationship material," I go on, and she looks at me quizzically. "Oh, c'mon, May. Tell me honestly, were you the happiest you've ever been with me?"

She ponders this statement for a minute, before answering, "Well, at times, yes. You did make me happy, Brendan. I can't deny that. This has been good for both of us, and I think that's something we can definitely agree on."

I nod in agreement at her words. "But?"

"But," she continues, "you're right; there were times when I had to question myself. I do think you're relationship material, Brendan, I just don't think I'm the right person for you to share that with."

I scoff at the last part. "See? I knew I couldn't be the only one."

We laugh at that, before falling into a comfortable silence.

"It's funny, you know," May says after a while. "You think so lowly of yourself. You view yourself as weak, but you're one of the strongest people I know. You make something of yourself, and probably accomplish more than all of us put together. One day, you'll prove it to the world."

"If you say so," I reply, shrugging.

She sighs. "It's a pity you don't see yourself the way we do. Do you have any idea how many students struggle for your grades?"

"I do struggle," I disagree. "You tutor me, don't you?"

"We'll see. You know, I know that you view Drew as the leader of your group, but I think you'd make a great leader. Someday, I can even picture you being a father," she comments, and I almost choke on the air.

"It's a little soon to be thinking about that, don't you think?" I splutter, already feeling my cheeks turning pink.

She laughs. "Well, yeah, but who knows? In a few years time...okay, probably more because I highly doubt you'll be able to get over your insecurities and put everything behind you that quickly. But still, eventually you'll find someone. Someone that, no matter how much you think it hurts her, you'll stay with."

I sigh, and gaze at her. "May...I really, really do like you. I'm positive that I even love you, but...like you said, not enough to hurt you. Not enough to ruin your life."

She nods, before replying, "I understand that, I suppose that I feel the same way. Sure, it might seem simple now, but in the long run...who knows? If I think about it, I guess I've kind of seen this coming; the more time we spent together, the more you pulled away."

I drop my gaze to the ground, guiltily.

"But you know what? I'm okay with that," she goes on. "Eventually, I'll find someone, too. We both will." I lift my eyes up to look at her, and she's smiling softly.

"You wanna get some food?" she asks, and it's like that day all over again.

I grin back at her. "Sure. I could use some chocolate cake right about now."

We began walking in the direction of the kitchen, light chatter making the conversation. Somehow, everything felt less forceful now. It was like we didn't need to try. It all just came naturally.

In that moment, I knew that we'd made the right decision.

"So," I begin as we stop at the kitchen door. "Now that we're not dating, what's your opinion on Drew?"

She turns to me in shock as she pushes open the kitchen door, disbelief flooding her face.

"You cannot be se-AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" I whirl around in shock as May was instantly covered in a pool of slimy, green goo.

"What the he- oh crap," I mutter, barely managing to look up in time as a second bucket of goo was released, pouring straight over my head and covering me from head to toe.

"Brendan," May seethes. "I don't care if they're your friends or not, nothing you say can stop me."

"Go right ahead," I mutter, wiping the slime off of my forehead. "I'll even lend you a hand."

"Hayden!" May screeches, already marching down the hall. "By the time I'm done with you, they'll have to use your dental records to identify the body!"

Perhaps letting May loose on Drew wasn't the best idea, after all...

---

The wedding had been perfection, there was no other way to describe it.

I grinned from ear to ear, never being more happy than in that moment. As the newlyweds made their way around the room, I slapped Drew on the back in congratulations.

May, of course, looked utterly radiant in her dress; primped and polished to perfection.

Everyone had been there. Everyone being the rest of the guys and their girlfriends or wives. Calem stood next to me with Serena, his wife of three years, as we eyed them all disbelievingly.

"I bet I can fling this further than you!" a raven haired man declared, gesturing to a frilly piece of material.

"Ha!" Gary laughed. "No way, Ashy-boy. I can so fling it further that you!"

"Ash, that isn't a toy!" Misty hollered, embarrassment flooding to her cheeks.

"Oh my Mew," Leaf whispered. "I'm my own boyfriend's babysitter."

"Oh, so that's where May's garter got to!" Dawn exclaimed.

"...I'm surrounded by idiots," a mauve haired man had muttered, although he gazed down at the bluenette on his arm = affectionately.

As the years went on, I had watched them all fall, one right after the other.

Well, technically in May's case, it had just been her that fell. Drew had fallen long beforehand. Overtime, I had come to realize that everything I 'noticed' about May, I already knew from Drew.

They truly were perfect for each other, and I was right all along.

A Rocketer could never be loved.

This was originally separated into five parts, but I decided to take it down and put it up as a whole. Apologies to the few that had already read the first part. If you have made it this far, I congratulate you on your effort to read 43 pages of writing without giving up.

And yes, I had to end it in Contestshipping. HOPE YOU LIKED IT, SEHSEH-PETIX CHOUX! XD

Please leave a review of what you thought, even one worded reviews are appreciated.

~Aureillia