Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. I also don't entirely own the image I use for this story. I found it somewhere and edited it.
As the night has fallen, May's worries has increased multiple times. She had not gotten a place to stay yet, being short on money to rent a hotel room. It had crossed her mind to rent a small room in the Pokémon Centre since it was the cheapest option she had, but when she did earlier, Nurse Joy had told her there was no single room left. There were a few double and group rooms, but of course the cost was higher too, so she refused politely. The kind nurse had suggested her to find someone to room with for the night, and she had thought of her (former) companion Drew, but quickly diminished the idea due to the outbreak they had this afternoon. It would be awkward to ask him to do so. So here she was, tramping around the local park, hoping to get a nice place to rest on. The bench didn't look comfortable, but seeing the condition she was in, she'd accept that no matter how displeasing it might be.
It suddenly streaked in her mind how would people perceive the news about her, the Top Four in the Grand Festival, sleeping in the park.
What would her friends think if they knew that? She had just been apart from her friends for one day and was already becoming a damsel in distress. Her family would ban her from travelling for sure. Moreover, how would Drew react to that?
Deciding staying in the park wasn't exactly the best choice, she strutted back into the Pokémon Centre. She'd rather spend a sleepless night there than the public park. At least it's more comfortable and safe, and air-conditioned too.
"Welcome to the Pokémon Centre, may I help you?" the pink-haired nurse greeted in a joyful manner, matching her name.
May couldn't help but to smile back, "No, I just...want to rest in the lounge."
"I'm sorry, sleeping is not allowed in the lounge," Nurse Joy informed dismally. May quickly laughed.
"No, I'm not planning to sleep there!" She nervously scratched the back of her neck, "I'm going to plan some strategies for my next contest, so I'll stay awake. I have an insomnia, after all, so even though I have nothing to do, I won't fall asleep. What I wanted to ask is can I reserve my seat for the night? Because I'll possibly go train at the dawn." She lied. Nurse Joy unknowingly accepted her answer and gave her a confirmation, much to her delight.
But unbeknownst by them, Drew was at the corner leaning his back on the wall and listening to their conversation. Even though he didn't directly see her face, he knew she was lying. The fiddling of her fingers he had seen from the corner of his eyes was a slight indicator of lying. And a heavy sigh she breathed after she'd left the main counter was also another indicator she was relieved that she'd managed to fool the nurse.
When May plopped down on the bright-orange sofa, Drew made his presence known by sitting beside her and surprising the distressed brunette.
"You can't force yourself to not sleep, you know. It's not good for your health." Drew immediately said when his bottom set on the sofa, not giving the brunette a chance to recover from her shock.
"Drew? What are you doing here?" May questioned after blinking several times.
Drew kept his hands in his pocket. "To bring you with me."
"Huh?"
"Let's go. I've found a proper place to stay," Drew advised, his green eyes staring into her eyes.
"I-I.. It's okay here," May stuttered, finding herself unable to think right, "I couldn't sleep anyway."
"You can fool Nurse Joy but not me, May." Drew snickered, but monotonously. He knew?
"W-what are you talking about?"
"You know it best." Drew replied, getting up from his seat. "Come on, don't waste my time and money."
May's eyes watched him incredulously. "What do you mean?"
Drew shot back a gaze at her, "You're really slow today, aren't you?" he said annoyingly, "Oh, never mind, you're slow everyday."
The brunette leapt to her feet furiously, but he swiftly sauntered away while speaking, "I've booked two rooms."
That caught her off-guard.
"Two rooms?" May enquired while following him, "What for?"
Drew grunted slightly and began striding away. He annoyingly inserted his hands in his pocket before saying, "For you, of course, dimwit."
Me?
But before May could open her mouth, he quickly added, "Or are you implying that you want us to sleep in the same room? I've heard you're scared of darkness and monsters under the bed." A smirk came to his lips.
"Of course not!" May's cheeks instantly heated up, and she thanked Gods that Drew was walking ahead of her so he couldn't see it.
"Then be grateful and don't complain." Drew said, ending the conversation there. May stayed silent throughout the walk as he'd ordered, trying her best not to ask where they were heading to or how he managed to find her.
When Drew led her to enter a huge fancy hotel with bright lightings, May thought he was kidding. It was the newest and most expensive hotel in Johto (May had learned about it when she watched the advertisement in the Pokémon Centre). It had many facilities which other hotels didn't have. With four swimming pools of different depths, two fitness centers, seven restaurants plus a fast food centre at the first floor for those who needed a quick meal, three internet cafes, a Pokémon daycare for the guests, two spa and sauna centers, several top brands' official store, a PokeMart, an observation tower at the top floor which overlooked the whole city, three mini-playgrounds for kids, an exclusive Elite Four and Gyms' meeting room, and a Contest Hall to top it all, the hotel was like the epitome of luxury. As May stared at the building in awe, Drew nudged her side indifferently to snap her out of her dreamy gaze and gestured her to follow him.
He didn't like how the building seemed to occupy her attention more than him.
"Reservations under Drew," he stated to the dark-skinned receptionist as he leaned his arms on the counter.
The receptionist immediately typed the information into her computer, and then she smiled before asking, "Two single rooms for two nights, is it correct?"
"Yes." Drew confirmed.
"We have yet to scan the fingerprints under May Maple's name, Mister." The receptionist informed while she clicked something similar to a button on the fingerprint scanner.
May's eyes widened. What was this, she had to scan her fingerprints? Were they suspecting she was a criminal or some sort?
The receptionist smiled and explained when May seemed to hesitate, "Don't worry, it's like a room key, except we use a fingerprint card system for a higher security, Miss May."
"Figured you don't know about that," Drew sneered, a mocking smirk appearing on his lips.
May glared at him as she placed her right forefinger on the scanner. The receptionist stopped her hand halfway by saying, "I'm sorry, it's the thumb of both hands, but if your thumbs are hurt or scarred, it's fine."
Drew snickered while May cackled nervously, "Oh, my thumbs are alright. I just didn't know that."
"What?" May shot a glare at Drew. She found his smirk very irritating to her eyes, as if it was screaming "You country girl!" at her. After she was done with her fingerprints, the receptionist thanked her and notified them everything was ready. May raised her eyebrow and promptly asked Drew, "Why didn't you get your fingerprints scanned too?"
"Well, a genius doesn't need his fingerprint scanned," Drew jested with a shrug. May rolled her eyes.
"Nah, only the payer has to scan their fingerprint," he said again. May's eyes instantly bulged.
"WHAT?" she screamed, her eyes as wide as saucers. Drew chuckled at her reaction and got into the empty lift.
"Yeah, you're paying." he shrugged like it was nothing.
"WHAT THE HEEEEEEEEEEN, DREW!" May shouted, her voice echoing in the lift which had only those two inside. "Are you freaking kidding me? One night in this heaven will cost me my parents' lifetime savings!"
Drew chuckled, "Don't exaggerate, May, it's not that expensive. You can work as the dishwasher here for a month to pay for the rooms."
"Drew, I advise you not to anger me or I'll make your death look like an accident," May gritted her teeth.
"Do it, then," he challenged with a smirk. But when she lunged at him, he avoided with ease thus causing her to growl irritatingly.
"Now, now, we wouldn't want to miss this sight, would we?" Drew said as the lift door opened in time, revealing a large room with many telescopes and glass walls.
"Wow!" May exclaimed upon seeing the observation room and quickly sprinted toward an unoccupied telescope, completely forgetting about Drew's remarks.
The view was marvelous, she could see the countless stars shining brightly in the night sky like diamonds. She could see people beneath in a zoomed view, some were walking alone, some were with their friends or spouses, and some were with their Pokémon.
"Wow, this scope is so clear! Maybe it can see your hidden freckles and pimples, Drew," May joked, her eyes not leaving the telescope.
Drew sneered, "It maybe also can see the nonexistence of your brain."
"Drew!" May shrieked in protest, "Why don't you take another telescope and stay away from me?" she inveighed before turning back to survey the city with the astronomical telescope. The green-haired coordinator, however, ignored her request.
"You can adjust the zoom, you know." Drew informed with a glint of haughtiness. May turned away from the telescope and stared at him while he twisted what seemed to be an adjuster at the side of the telescope.
"Don't bug me!" She whined childishly. He snickered, but made no attempt to move.
May decided to ignore the annoying greenhead and explore the cityscape. She took her time in sighting the city, observing people's funny walking styles, couples arguing, and much more. That emerged a question in her mind, what if she's the one below and some random person was laughing at her frustration earlier?
That occurred another thought, did Drew stalk her via this scope to know her whereabouts? No wonder he knew she was in the Pokémon Centre. Well, literally one couldn't see past the Centre's walls but if you stalk someone you'd see them walking inside. Jeez, what a creep.
Eventually May had finished with her sighting contently and made the decision to call it a day, much to Drew's delight. He had been tired due to the training he'd done that evening and desired a nice rest, but he restrained himself just to bring her to the top floor to the observation tower. Seeing her face glowing in joyfulness was pure bliss, he couldn't bring himself to stop her or leave her there, and he thought it was worth it. He had been worrying whether she was still mad at her for the morning events, but it seemed like her bipolar-ness did a good deed for him. When she brightened up jauntily upon entering the tower, all his worries fled out of the window and he soaked himself in her cheerfulness, not leaving her side even a second.
When the lift dinged to signal they'd already reached the tenth floor, May suddenly asked, "Did you monitor my whereabouts this afternoon from the observation tower?"
"No, I am not a creep unlike someone," he retorted in defense.
May's eyes narrowed at him suspiciously, and despite how it unnerved him, he stayed in his composure and walked out of the lift calmly. May followed, studying his movements like he was a prey.
"I was practicing the whole day, distracting myself," he revealed without looking at her. Huh? From what?
"I had to try with all my might to divert my mind from you." Drew appended, his pace slowing.
Me?
May blinked, was a confession supposed to ensue after this? What should she do then?
There were very many questions in her mind, but she couldn't decide which one to ask. Why her? Why did he tell her this? Why did he have to distract himself by training? Why was he thinking about her? What was his thoughts about?
The biggest question being: Did he like her?
But she didn't ask, instead, she waited for the continuation of his words. And he did continue.
"You want to know why?" he muttered, finally turning to her, their eyes clashing with questions.
May nodded curtly. He took a step to lessen their proximity while maintaining their eye contact. "I had a bad feeling something might happen to you. Every cell in my body kept blaming me for making you go away, and telling me that if something were to happen to you, it would be my fault. I felt horrible. It was like losing something you'll never get back." He disclosed, gazing into her navy eyes the whole time he spoke.
May felt herself weak in the knees. Was he apologizing? The Drew, apologizing at her for making her mad? He had never done it before, frankly. And back then, even after he'd yelled at her during the Kanto Grand Festival, he didn't really apologize. It was after she'd won over him in the next day's battle that he had spoken to her again as if there was nothing happened in the previous day. But looking back, it was May who seemed to seek his forgiveness. When she'd finally beaten him, she gazed at him, as if to see if he's still mad at her for barging in his training session with Absol. She was so glad when he smiled at her approvingly, as she immediately embraced her Combusken.
But she'd never thought Drew would care this much about her, to even say he felt horrible when she left. Drew had almost never voiced his negative feelings aloud like he'd just done, but hey, things had changed, hadn't they? Drew cared about her too, back then, but it wasn't in a gentlemanly way like this. He used the sterner way, he scolded her and warned her, not directly protecting her from the source of problem. Why had he changed?
"I..." May coughed out after a few moments, "But... Nothing happened to me, right?"
So don't reciprocate yourself, Drew. I'm also sorry for fussing over a small thing.
Drew shrugged, "It seems so. I'm glad I found you at the Pokémon Center, so I brought you here. Nothing will happen to you, I will do my job to ensure that."
"T-thank you, Drew." May muttered, not quite accustomed to Drew's attentive behavior. Maybe she was right about him about to confess something, as he seemed to contemplate something.
"This is your room," He notified, gesturing to a blue plate on the door, "Just put your thumb here, and the door will be unlocked automatically. And don't worry, it's been paid." He chuckled slightly.
May placed her right thumb on the blue plate, and short after, there was a clicking sound from the door, showing it was already unlocked.
"My room is just over here," Drew scanned his fingerprint on the door just across May's room, "Just call when something happens. I'll wake you up on seven tomorrow, is it fine with you?"
"Yeah," May answered, opening the door, "Good night, Drew."
"Night," Drew opened his door, and was about to enter his room when May called him.
"Huh?"
When Drew's eyes met May's big eyes timidly gazing at him, he smiled.
"Um... Thank you," May said slightly hesitant. Drew raised an eyebrow at her, and she quickly added, "For all of this. It must cost very much." she pointed inside the room.
"It's nothing," he replied, "Rest early."
Drew entered his room after May got into her room. Feeling really tired, he flopped down on the mattress without taking off his shoes. It had been an eventful day, hadn't it?