Song- Melt

Characters- Courtney, Maxie

Interaction- Authorityshipping

Warnings- None

These two are honestly such awkward dorks...

So this is the first drabble to not have a whole team in it as such, and the first more explicitly shippy one. There'll be other pairings in other drabbles if this isn't so much everyone's thing (especially seeing as someone recently challenged me to do every pairing permutation...)

This drabble is heavily based off of the song and PV from Rockleetist's English version of the song, just fyi.

Courtney's hand shook as she read the note over and over. By the lighthouse at one. They were supposed to meet by the lighthouse at one. She read those words over and over as if trying to sear them into her mind. The last thing she wanted was to mess up and wind up being late.

She was still finding it hard to believe that Maxie had agreed to meet her at all. Okay, so technically their meeting was supposed to be about work, and she'd only convinced him that it would be better to get it done outside their base and in the fresh air of Lilycove. Considering that, she was again surprised that Tabitha wasn't also tagging along. She suspected the man was helping her, if his insistence that somebody needed to stay and supervise the grunts was anything to go by. So in the end, it wasn't really a date as such. That didn't mean Courtney wouldn't treat it like one.

It was almost certainly against the regulations of the team to be out of uniform as she was. Courtney still looked respectable in a lilac hoodie and pink pencil skirt (that was easily as long as her usual outfit), although she was clearly more casual than usual. As she turned to leave her room, she slipped a flower clip into her hair. She wondered idly to herself whether she could be considered cute.

She made sure to arrive at the meeting place early and sat on the bench that was alongside the lighthouse, staring out to sea. If she looked to the left, she was certain she'd be able to see the entrance to the base. It was a nice place to sit and wait in a way, but she had turned up just a little too early for her own good, and ended up making herself nervous by thinking about being alone with her leader.

"I wasn't aware it was casual Friday." Maxie commented, leaning on the bench as he walked up to it.

"I felt like it." Courtney offered by way of explanation.

"Well… It isn't a mission. So it's acceptable." Maxie considered, moving to sit next to her on the bench. Courtney tried to look up at him and smile but then felt like that was a bad idea and stared at the ground instead.

"Now then, should we get on with it?" The leader asked. Courtney wanted to complain that he worked too hard, but when she drifted her gaze up to Maxie and locked eyes with him words died on her lips and she nodded.

Only half an hour into their discussion, it clouded over and suddenly began to rain. Hard. Even though Courtney pulled her hood over her head she was still getting soaked.

"We should seek shelter from this weather." Maxie suggested, getting to his feet and pulling an umbrella out of his coat. Courtney nodded and stood, about to walk through the driving rain to the nearest building when she was suddenly covered. She felt Maxie get closer to her and quickly realised he'd set up the umbrella so it covered them both. She found herself blushing slightly at the increased contact, barely able to contain how happy she was at being this close to her leader. They walked on together at a brisk pace, Maxie trying to avoid noticing the stares of onlookers and Courtney barely even caring the whole time.

The closest building to where they were turned out to be the contest hall, and once they had ducked inside, Courtney began looking around at the decorations and portraits of winning Pokémon hung on the walls. It appeared as though a contest had just ended, as people were streaming out of the hall, chatting to themselves and gathering around the performer's entrance in an attempt to get a view of the winning trainer and Pokémon. Courtney didn't try to get close to them, instead leaning back against the wall.

"Hopefully the rain doesn't pour down for too long." Maxie commented.

"It's unexpected." Courtney added.

"Regardless. It doesn't look as though we'll get any more work done. We should return to the base once it clears up enough." Her leader advised.

"Ah…" Courtney didn't want to head back just yet- she was enjoying being alone with her leader. But she didn't want to argue with Maxie and risk either making him mad or cluing him in about how she really felt. So she closed her mouth and nodded silently.

The crowds only got worse as the time wore on. Every time the sliding doors to the hall opened, the rain seemed to be worse. By the time the precipitation had ceased, the path to the exit was obscured by people, and Courtney wasn't looking forwards to forcing her way through. As she steeled herself to walk onwards regardless, her wrist was caught and she was pulled through the crowd by Maxie.

"It wouldn't do to be separated." He explained, dragging her from the area while Courtney tried not to let on how happy she was, although she was convinced her racing heart would give her away.

Maxie let go of her the second they were out in the clear, and for most of the rest of the way they walked in silence, Courtney largely lost in thought. A growing part of her wanted to find a way to make her leader understand how she was feeling, but for the most part she was aware of the likely consequences and too nervous to say anything.

"We've returned now. Although… I do wonder whether everything is alright." He mentioned, stopping entirely on the beach and turning to face her.

Courtney heated up under Maxie's gaze, staring straight ahead and struggling to find words.

"If there's something wrong, it would be detrimental to the team if you were to keep it bottled up for long." Maxie insisted.

"I… Well, I…" Courtney found herself talking without thinking. "I like you."

"Hm?" Maxie looked at her as though she was speaking the obvious. "Well, yes. You are one of my closest friends. I am fond of you."

"Wait, I…" Courtney's heart sank. He'd completely misunderstood her. But then, she hadn't meant to say it in the first place… So wasn't it for the best? She could pretend it'd never happened… Still, the thought brought tears to her eyes. Her emotions were really going haywire.

"Ah." Her leader looked her over and appeared to realise something. Courtney stared at the sand, not wanting to hear whatever he was about to say. "That wasn't what you meant."

She didn't dare to look up, convinced he was going to shoot her down any minute.

"Courtney. Don't cry." He reassured her, tilting her head up to regard him gently. He was shaking, and appeared to be turning completely red, and she didn't understand what was happening.

"Uh?" She bit her lip, trying to follow his words.

"I… Have to admit that I'm not the most confident with these types of feelings." He began. "However, I cannot pretend not to feel anything. I do… Accept your feelings." He looked off to the side, clearly awkward.

"I, uh…" Courtney still felt pretty emotional, and darted forwards before she could stop herself, throwing her arms around Maxie and leaning her head on his shoulder. He embraced her tenderly, trying to show his affection.