And... It's the second edited chapter! Terribly sorry for getting this to you so late, but... well, blame the lazy. Also the fact that Netflix and Tumblr have been keeping me away from my writing.
The door in front of Dawn had opened to reveal Paul.
Paul. Paul. Somehow, Dawn couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that she had just knocked on Paul's door. And he had opened it! She simply stood at the doorway looking shocked, with her mouth hanging open, while Paul himself stood a little baffled. In her state, she managed to process that Paul was wearing a larger, slightly edited version of his signature clothing, and his hands were deep in his pockets, as usual.
Dawn was soon shaken out of her shocked trance by Paul rudely asking "what do you want, troublesome girl?"
Dawn jumped a little, felt herself heat up, and bristled.
"For your information, my name is Dawn! D-A-W-N! Why can't you ever remember?! Secondly, I got stuck in the hurricane and I can't make it back to my hotel. Can I..." she trailed off, hesitating. What was she supposed to say? Was she to just ask bluntly if she could stay? Timidly, perhaps? The blunette (didya see what I did there?) was shaken out of it again by Paul clearing his throat loudly, only serving to make her blush grow.
"Right, sorry. Er... could I stay here until the storm lets up? Please?" she pleaded, giving him her best puppy eyes while trying to calm her red face.
"... Alright, fine. But no... this," Paul answered coldly, gesturing to her overall being and turning back into the house.
Dawn sighed and started following him, grumbling all the way. Still his cold self, as always. But he looked... better. He was more grown up than when she last saw him (about 4 years ago, when she watched him and Ash battle (Paul won, by the way)).
As she followed him in, the first thing Dawn noticed was how spacious it was inside compared to the outside. Bigger on the inside, she supposed. The blue haired teen stopped to admire the decorations, but once again was forced out of her mind by Paul.
"You'll be staying in the guest room, which is up the stairs," he gestured to a set of stairs to their right. "Second door on the right. Anything else?"
Dawn hesitated under his stare before asking. "Where's Reggie?"
"He's in Kanto." A simple answer for a simple man. Dawn pressed on.
"Why?"
"Visiting a friend." Well, that explained why Paul was the one who answered the door.
"Ok then..."
"Well, go up, call whoever's with you, tell them you're here, dinner will be ready... later." After he said this, he walked away through another door which Dawn assumed to lead to the kitchen.
She stood there for a second before going up the stairs to the guest room. Opening it revealed a small room with one bed, a desk, a chair, a closet, and a private bathroom with an elegantly decorated door. At one glance, Dawn assumed the décor to be Reggie's doing, as she was sure Paul didn't even have an inkling of an idea as to what interior decorating was.
Dawn walked to the bathroom and peeked into it. She wasn't too surprised when she saw it to be a simple white bathroom, it containing one toilet, one sink, a small shower, and a cabinet. Nothing too fancy, but not too shabby. Crossing over to the cabinet, she opened the door to reveal absolutely nothing.
The teen then walked to the shower. She supposed she should take a hot shower now, especially since she was soaking wet and cold at that. Dawn stripped off her clothing, turned the water to hot, and stepped in. The hot water immediately calmed her muscles, and she just stood in the barely scalding spray, relaxing.
Sooner than she wanted, Dawn stepped out, dried herself, and redressed. She put her white beanie back on, fixed her signature gold (coloured) clips, took a final glance at her reflection in the mirror, and walked out to further inspect the room.
After a little more observing, she changed her mind. The room's simplicity must have been influenced by Paul, since Reggie would have made it more like a hotel suite, complete with a Jacuzzi or something. Dawn sighed and flopped on the bed, thinking about the situation she was in. She didn't even have a phone with her!
About that, she just remembered that she had to call May. But how, that was the problem. She could just ask to use Paul's phone, but he would probably mock her for forgetting her phone then refuse to lend her his. But, she really needed to call May! Deciding to spend no more time fretting, Dawn walked out of the room with firm resolution.
She made her way down the stairs again, taking her time to admire the decorations before she reached the bottom. Looking around, she heard sounds coming from the living room. She stuck her head in and found Paul lounging on the couch, watching a Pokémon battle on TV.
Dawn walked in, and he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.
"Hey," she greeted, unsure of what to say.
"Hey," he said back indifferently.
"So... I kinda... just a little... I... um..."
The purple-haired man rolled his eyes. "Oh, get on with it."
She glared at him. "Oh, alright. I need to use your phone."
"Where's your phone?" he asked, a smirk starting to form.
"Well... I-"
"-Left it at the hotel," Paul finished for her, smirking smugly. Dawn bristled.
"Well, I'll have you know, I didn't plan on this happening!"
"But you could have taken it with you anyways, just in case. Isn't that what normal people do?"
There, she faltered. He was right. She was being stupid when she decided not to take her phone with her. But, back to the matter at hand.
"Whatever! Ok, maybe I forgot it! So, what?! Can I just use your phone?"
"Fine," he relented, grabbing his cell phone out of his pocket and tossing it to her.
Dawn muttered a hurried thanks and speed-walked up and back to the guest room. Now, wasn't that embarrassing? She shook it off and turned on the phone. Dawn hurriedly dialed May's number and hoped she would pick up. Luckily for her, the brunette did.
Hello?
"Hi May, it's Dawn."
Dawn? Where are you? Why are you calling on someone else's phone? Whose phone is it?
"Actually, I got stuck in the hurricane and had to find shelter. Luckily, I found a house. Where are you?"
I'm at the hotel, and that's great! Whose house?
"Erm..."
Who?
"Erm... Paul's. This is also his phone."
-loud squeal- Aww! You're stuck at your crush's house for three days! It can't get any better!
"May... How is this good? I hate him, he hates me!"
You're just in denial. I know you have a crush on him, and that he probably feels the same way about you. You told me, remember?
"..."
Exactly. Now how is he?
"He's the same. Acts the same, talks the same, even dresses the same!"
You've been observing him?
"No! Well, not exactly..."
Ha! I knew it!
"No! It's not like that..."
So, you WEREN'T staring at him?
"Maybe a little..."
-cough-
"Ok, so I was staring! Lots of girls stare at hot guys!"
Hm... 'Hot guys,' eh?
"No! Not like that! I mean... erm... um..."
So, we all know that you like Paul.
"What do you mean, 'we'?"
Just me and Misty!
"You told her?!"
-sigh- ...No. You did. You have a really bad memory, you know that?
"No! I don't have a really bad memory!"
Ok, then, what did you have for dinner yesterday?
"..."
Wrong! You had tacos.
"When are you ever wrong?"
Never! At least about boy stuff.
"So, how's Drew? Did you two get together yet?"
No, of course not! I don't like him!
"Sure... just keep telling yourself that..."
I don't even know if he likes me back!
"I think he does, by the way he acts around you and only you. Did you get roses from him yet?"
Actually...
-happy squeal- "OH MY GOSH, REALLY?! HOW MANY?"
Downstairs
Paul grimaced. "Ugh, what are they talking about?! She's gonna burst my eardrums..."
Back upstairs
Uh... I lost track after 30...
"...and you still think he doesn't like you?"
Yes.
"Looks like I have some work to do..."
Don't interfere with my love life!
"Why not?"
Because... you aren't good at it!
"Well, even a blind person can see the sparks between you two."
And don't forget the fireworks with you and Paul.
"There are no fireworks!"
Sure... I believe you...
"Oi!"
Anyways... you'll be back after the hurricane?
"Yes, I will."
This is probably the last time I'll talk to you for 3 days, so anything else?
"Whoa, May, since when were you so serious?"
Since you disappeared.
"Not on purpose!"
You know, I think you set this up, just so you could stay at Paul's house.
"What?! How could you think that?! I did NOT set this up! It was an accident!"
Mhmm. Anyways, anything else to tell me?
"No... Except... I smell something good over here..."
It might be Paul cooking.
"I don't even think he can cook!"
Well, what if he could?
"Then we wouldn't have to order pizza."
...I'm pretty sure he CAN cook.
"Well, what if he can't?"
I'm pretty sure he CAN! How did we get to arguing about this anyway?
"Um... my sense of smell..."
...That's great, Anyways-you gotta make sure-
"Aaah! We're breaking up!"
- to hook up with Paul and-while you're there
"Hey! That's not gonna happen!"
Yeah, right. Like I'm-we know you love him-Anyways I gotta go-don't forget-have fun! Bye!
"Bye...?" Dawn shut the phone and looked outside the window. It was too windy and rainy to be able to see clearly, but she could see why the connection broke up. She sighed and decided to return the phone.
She walked downstairs and was surprised to find Paul in the kitchen, waiting next to the oven for something that smelled like... pasta, surprisingly. Dawn strolled in, her socked feet slipping slightly on the white tile, and called him.
"Hey..."
Paul grunted as a greeting.
"Um... I came to return your phone... Thanks, by the way."
"Hm."
"Erm... I'll just put it on the table... Here..."
"Ok."
"Um..." Dawn trailed off, unsure of how to continue the weak conversation. "So... you can cook?"
"Yes."
"How?"
"Reggie taught me."
"I see... What are you making?"
"Lasagna."
"Oh, that's nice, I happen to love lasagna."
"Ok." Dawn supposed the conversation was over. She leaned against the counter by the sink, watching him wait for the food to be done.
Paul cleared his throat. "You know, I'd rather you not stare at me." Dawn flushed, realizing she had been caught.
"Sorry," she mumbled.
"Yeah, whatever," he replied, sliding the lasagna onto two plates. He placed them on two opposite ends of the table, the plates clunking on the wood.
The resident of the house removed the phone from the table and slid it into his pocket. "Eat up," he said. Dawn sat down and stabbed into it with a fork.
Stealing a last skeptical glance at the steaming meal before her, the blue-haired female brought her forkful up to her mouth and bit into it. She hummed in delight. "Mmm! This is actually really good!"
"You thought I was a bad cook?" The man across from her asked with a raise of an eyebrow.
Dawn spluttered and choked, pounding her chest. "What?! No! I-I-never-"
"I heard part of your conversation with your friend."
"Oh... uh..." Dawn trailed off, suddenly coming to a realization. "Oi! You were eavesdropping on me-us-me?!"
"No... I heard you squealing from all the way downstairs," he answered, stealing a bite from his food.
"Oh... sorry," she apologized sheepishly. Paul grunted, and they finished eating in silence. Paul put the dishes in the sink, and Dawn stood up.
"So... what now?" she asked, feeling foolish for asking.
"You can go to your room or something, or you can watch TV with me, since the hurricane's probably going to cause a power outage." He answered gruffly. She was about to open her mouth to reply, but hesitated. She had just been invited by Paul to watch something with him. Nicely. Dawn just couldn't decline.
"Alright," she said, heading toward the living room. "Can we watch a movie?" She wondered aloud.
"Alright," he replied, smirking a little. Dawn didn't notice it, as she was busy looking over the movies in Paul's collection. After quite a long time of decision, she finally picked something out.
"This! I want to watch this!" She exclaimed excitedly, holding up the disc case to show Paul.
"House on Haunted Hill? Isn't that supposed to be really scary?" He questioned, glancing over the case.
"Well, I've never seen it, and I love horror movies!"
"Fine," he relented, popping the disc in, turning off the lights and sitting down next to Dawn. She flushed a little at the closeness, but Paul seemed indifferent, as usual. The movie started, and she snuggled into the leather couch.
Alright, couple things:
Paul has a flippy phone.
I suck at editing.
This is going to be longer than the original story.
