AN/ Sorry it took so long for an update but I've been sick, and when I finally got better I had to catch up on homework, and chores…anyway I hope you all enjoy chapter three of 'To Love Thy Rival'

AN/ Sorry it took so long for an update but I've been sick, and when I finally got better I had to catch up on homework, and chores…anyway I hope you all enjoy chapter three of 'To Love Thy Rival'!

I chuckled lightly when her bright, sapphire eyes lit up with excitement and glee, when I placed a small plate with a fresh slice of strawberry shortcake on the table in front of her. We had been walking back to the pokecenter when she had grabbed hold of my arm and pointed to a tiny little bakery a couple buildings down and practically begged me to take her there. In the end I gave in and now here we are, sitting at a window table eating strawberry short cake.

"Wow this is delicious! I've never had cake this good!" May chirped excitedly as she took another bite. I sat there and watched her eat in silence as she talked, and talked about this and that, about the contest and how she was thinking of using Combusken, or Beautifly…I just laughed and said that either one was a good choice.

"So Drew, which pokemon are you going to use?" I leaned my elbow on the cool surface of the table and rested my chin in my palm.

"I'm actually not sure…maybe I'll use Absol, or Flygon…May?" she tilted her head to the side questioningly.

"Yeah, what is it Drew?" I slowly reached out with my free hand and gently wiped the spot of whipped cream from the edge of her lip, and brought it back to my mouth, tasting the sweet white cream. I glanced up to see her blushing so much she looked almost like a rose. I chuckled as a smirk spread across my lips.

"What's the matter May?" I tried and succeeded to act innocent, as if I didn't realize how intimate that simple action was. She glared half heartedly at me before shaking her head lightly making the blush disappear.

"Why did you do that?" I shrugged and leaned back in my seat.

"Because you didn't seem to notice it and I happen to like whipped cream, and plus; I wanted to see the look on your face when I did it!" she looked absolutely scandalized, the look on her face made me laugh.

"That's not funny Drew! If you keep doing those kinds of things to people they might get the wrong idea about your intentions…" I raised an eyebrow and gave her an amused smirk.

"Oh? And what did you assume my intentions were?" she blushed again and quickly looked away making me chuckle again. 'Damn its way too easy to mess with her!' I shook my head lightly and gave her a small, but reassuring smile and flicked my bangs out of my face.

"Okay I'm sorry, you happy now?" she actually looked like she didn't know what I was apologizing for. It was quite funny. I glanced down at my plate and saw that I had a single strawberry slice left, so I picked up my fork and after I jabbed the strawberry slice with it I brought it up to my mouth…but I stopped when I noticed how May was staring at it, I looked at it before holding it out with it still on the fork.

"You want it?" she smiled and reached out for the fork, but I pulled it back before she could take it…I was a man on a mission after all.

"Hey! I thought you were going to give that to me" she had folded her arms across her chest and stuck her lower lip out cutely in an adorable pout, causing me to force down a blush. Then I smirked again and held it out tauntingly, nearly laughing when I saw her eyes following its movement.

"I am…here" I held it close to her lips and let an amused smile play across my lips when she blushed again and slowly took the strawberry slice from the fork. I was slightly confused when I heard someone giggle from over at the counter. Turning in my seat to see who it was I narrowed my eyes at the redheaded woman.

"Solidad!" May had stood from her seat and ran over to her apparent idol and gave her a friendly hug.

"Hey May, I didn't know you and Drew were an item now!" May blushed and scowled furiously at the redhead.

"We're not! Drew's just messing with me…So what are you doing here?" Solidad smiled at her before paying for her dessert.

"Well I just thought that since I'm a coordinator that maybe I should enter some contests…" May pouted again and folded her arms across her chest, turning her nose up at Solidad.

"We can do without the sarcasm thank you very much!" Solidad laughed heartily as she followed May back to our table and took a seat between us. I was surprised when she turned her attention to me and blinked a couple times before I realized what that sly smirk on her face meant.

"Oh shut up…like May said, there is nothing going on" I leaned back in my chair resting my arm on the back of the chair.

"Whatever you say Drew!" after she added her two cents to the pot on that subject she had turned back to a blushing May and continued their conversation about the upcoming contest.

Before I knew it an hour had flew by, sitting there talking. For once I was actually allowing myself to enjoy the company of my rivals without keeping my guard up.

"Well I think we should get going now, Drew and I still have to get some training done before we turn in!" May was smiling ear to ear, glad that she got to see her friend before they had to compete. I hadn't even noticed that I had been staring at her until my gaze strayed over to Solidad who again had a sly smirk plastered to her face. I glared at her before turning away.

"Come on May, we have to get back" she nodded and ran up to my side, latching on to my arm once again.

"See you at the contest tomorrow!" we both turned back for a moment to wave before heading back to the pokecenter.

"You know Drew; I think that's the most fun I've ever had in your presence!" I raised an eyebrow at her as we turned the corner.

"Are you saying that I'm no fun?" she shook her head lightly and let go of my arm so that she could adjust her bag around her waist.

"I'm not saying that your no fun, I'm just saying that you're a total jerk most of the time and I'm glad that I got to see the nice side of you for once" I scowled and shoved my hands in my pockets, she calls it pouting, but I prefer to say that I'm ignoring her.

"Oh come on Drew don't be like that, I was just excited that you had gone an entire day without insulting me once" She had latched onto my arm again and I couldn't help but sigh in defeat.

When we got back to the pokecenter we had only taken three steps into the building when May had tensed and stopped in her tracks, and the grip she had on my arm forced me to stop as well. I glanced at her giving her a questioning look.

"What's the matter May?" she slowly lifted her hand and pointed at the front reception desk. I glanced up and my eyes narrowed instantly. There stood Ash, with a frown on his face, glaring at me. I leaned over to May's ear, only a little closer than needed just to piss him off.

"Come on May, let's go to our room…" she nodded her head in agreement and let go of my arm to start heading down the hall to our shared room. I blinked in surprise that she had actually gone on without me, but then started following her, but before I could reach the hallway I felt a hand grip my shoulder and I bit back an annoyed groan. I glanced over my shoulder to see Ash glaring at me, with a determined expression on his face. I sighed and turned to him, casually brushing the bangs from my face.

"What is it Ash?" I blinked when I found that a finger was pointed directly in my face, he looked like he could kill. 'Hopefully not…'

"Drew! What are your intentions with May? I demand to know!" I raised a brow at him before chuckling with amusement.

"I am merely trying to get along with my rival, is that against the law now?" I made sure that he could hear the sarcasm in my voice as I leaned my weight to one foot and brushed his offending finger away from my face with my hand. He just scowled at me before turning on his heels and stalking off toward the corner of the room, where I just noticed, the other two idiots he traveled with sat, the womanizer and the brat. 'Then again that brat is May's little brother, I probably shouldn't call him that…' I sighed before turning and heading down the hallway to our shared room.

As I walked I thought, about the upcoming contest, about May, but most of all, about the talk that I had had with her mother. She was a nice woman and I actually found her tolerable, she was obviously part of my groupie circle yet she had not gone nuts upon seeing me. I was so glad that she hadn't. It was hard enough dealing with the groupies that followed me everywhere I went, but the way May looked at me with such anger and resentment whenever she saw me with them made my stomach sink and my skin crawl. I couldn't bear to see May that angry with me, sure I would occasionally piss her off just for kicks but I never really, truly angered her.

'Heh, guess its true what they say, when one falls, you fall hard' I smirked to myself as I turned the corner and spotted our room door open most of the way. I raised a brow before peeking in.

"May? Are you in here?" I slipped quietly into the room, and when I came close to the washroom I heard the water running. 'Oh she's taking a shower…' I blushed lightly, 'No Drew, resist the urge to peek, you are not a pervert, you are not a peeping tom, and you aren't a stalker!' I shook my head violently ridding my mind of the thoughts that plagued it.

Sitting down on the edge of my bed, I picked up my bag and looked through it, making sure that everything was there. May, being the klutz that she was, had left the door open, and in doing so could have cost us our pokemon. 'I'll chew her out for it later, that'll really tick her off' sighing with relief when I saw that everything was still there I zipped up my bag and put it back down next to my bed. Then I glanced at the bathroom door when I heard the water turn off. But my head snapped up when I saw the door begin to open. And there she was, standing in the bathroom doorway with nothing but a towel covering her torso. Little rivulets of water streaming down from her sopping brown hair onto her skin, and down her narrow shoulders and her slender arms and legs; I swallowed hard, as my eyes went wide with shock and surprise. When her eyes met mine they went wide as well, matching mine. It was silent in the room until I forced my eyes shut and turned around on the bed so that I wasn't facing her.

"Get dressed…go ahead, I'm not looking" I was blushing furiously and was glad that she couldn't see my face at the moment. I smirked though when I heard her huff with irritation, and began to move around the room collecting her clothes.

"You know Drew you could have knocked, it isn't that hard, or are you just afraid that you're going to bruise your perfect hand when you knock on the hard door and will be unable to perform at the contest?" she was mocking me, purposely trying to make me angry. I admit that that comment had pissed me off, but as everybody knows I am way too proud to show it. And plus, sometimes these arguments that we got into were actually quite fun. I chuckled and leaned back on my hands, listening carefully to her movements.

"I called for you but you didn't answer, and you left the door wide open idiot, do you realize that someone could have just come in here and take our pokemon and our stuff? You really are a klutz May" I glanced over my shoulder to see that she had just finished dressing, and had her hands placed firmly on her hips, she looked like she had been trying to burn holes into the back of my head. I smirked again when she pointed an accusatory finger at me. 'What is it with people and pointing at me?'

"You know if it weren't for the fact that Ash was being a total jerk I would so leave, I don't have to put up with your crap!" she struck a triumphant pose that nearly made me laugh, but I wouldn't, because the last thing I wanted was for her to attack me with one of the very heavy objects around her.

"You know, you're really something May…" I laughed lightly and fell back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling with a small smile on my face. I blinked when May's upside down face appeared over mine, staring down at me with curious sapphire eyes.

"What?" I frowned slightly as she leaned closer, invading my personal space. 'Which she does often' I reminded myself, so why did this time feel different? Then I felt my face begin to heat up as she leaned closer, and closer…I snapped my eyes shut, and refused to open them again. My heart was hammering in my chest as I prepared for what I hoped would be a kiss. But I felt her forehead touch mine, a wave of disappointment washed over me.

"You're not sick…but then why are you having these wild mood swings?" I blinked.

"Wild mood swings? What are you talking about" I frowned at her and reached up with a hand and pushed her face away from mine with my forefinger.

"Well, one minute your mean to me, then your suspiciously nice, then your rude, then your confusing, then you're a jerk again, and now your confusing again…" I rolled my eyes and sat up, swinging my legs over the side of the bed and getting up from my spot.

"I'm going to take a shower, considering that you didn't use up all of the hot water" I had only just closed the bathroom door when she had chucked a book at me, and I only knew that she had because it hit the door pretty hard. I had flinched when I felt the door and the doorknob reverberate underneath my hand like any other person would, and was very glad that I had closed the door in time.

"Drew your such a jerk!" I listened to what she was doing, and when I finally heard her take a seat on the squeaky mattress I turned and began to get undressed.

We were both fifteen now, and I couldn't help noticing how much May had grown. 'Physically and emotionally' she had truly become a woman. I chuckled at my own thoughts as I climbed into the shower and turned the water on. As the warm spray washed over my body I allowed myself to relax.

"May…why is everything about you so…" 'Infuriatingly beautiful?' the small smile that had taken residence on my lips slowly slipped away, as I lathered my hair until my scalp was sore. I willed myself not to cry when it came to, well…pretty much anything, but when it came to May; I sometimes shed a tear or two. Our relationship was built on fights and anger, and competition…and for the past year it has been agonizingly hard to try and force her from my thoughts, even when we're not in the same room, the same building, the same town I still thought of her. I find myself starting fights with her just so that I can see her express some sort of extreme emotion toward me, flirting with my fan girls just to tick her off, and see that competitive glint in her eye that she always got during a contest. Everything about her was amazing, and she was so amazingly beautiful.

"May…" her name slipped from my lips in a tired sigh as I stepped under the spray and rinsed my hair. My eyes slowly opened and I blinked when I realized what I had just thought. I smirked and chuckled to myself. 'Oh god, I'm turning into a hopeless romantic…'

When I got out of the shower I dried off and got dressed, trying hard to force all thoughts of the matter from my mind so that I wasn't distracted when she throws something else at me later. But when I opened the door the book still lay on the floor outside the door, and May was lying on her side on her bed. My eyes softened as I approached the bed and pulled the covers up and over her lightly quivering body. I smiled as she smiled that soft smile of hers that I love so much in her sleep, and mumbled something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like 'Stupid Drew' I chuckled lightly before leaning down and planting a gentle kiss on her smooth cheek.

"Sweet dreams May…" she sighed in her sleep, and snuggled into her pillow making my smile widen. I stood up and walked over to my bed, lying down on my back with my arms folded behind my head as I stared up at the ceiling.

"I'll tell you soon…" my eyes slowly fluttered closed, and I fell asleep, my dreams filled with images of my sweet May.

AN/ Yay third chapter! I know you all waited like forever for this, but like I said I've been sick and a lot of my other fans wanted an update for my other multi chaptered fic…so sorry if your mad. But please review this fic, I'm desperate for reviews on this one!! :O