Okay, this is it...The plot will take action! I'm really happy that you guys have enjoyed this story! I'm hoping this will turn out well...Let's see!

(May's POV)

May lay on her bed, recounting the events of her date to her friends. They were all giggling and laughing, like teenage girls do.

"Wow, May," Misty said. "Not bad, for a first date."

"We should probably get some lunch," Iris said, checking the clock. Dawn laughed.

"Do you always have food on the brain, Iris?" she asked in an amused voice. They all laughed, but decided to go to the cafeteria anyway.

When they settled down, and began to eat, May looked up, and saw the boys beckoning frantically to them. She nudged Iris and Misty, who looked up from their food and saw the boys.

"Be right back, Dawn," Misty said, and they got up from the table, and headed over to the boys.

"What is it?" Iris asked, slightly miffed that she didn't get to finish lunch.

"We've talked to Trip," Gary said." And he's all for getting Dawn and Paul together. We asked him some questions about Paul, and the one we found most interesting was Paul's favorite place to hang out."

"Where?" Misty asked.

"You know that bench, underneath that big tree, overlooking that pond?" Barry asked. They all nodded. "Apparently, that's one of his favorite places to be. Trip said that he goes there every day at 4:30. We figured if we could get Dawn to go there at around the same time..."

"Oh..." May said, understanding. "Gotcha. Leave it to us."

So later, at 4:20, when Dawn prepared for her daily walk, Misty carefully dropped the hint.

"Dawn, I hear there's this really pretty place under the giant maple tree. There's a bench, and it overlooks a pond, and you should go there on your walk."

To their relief, Dawn smiled. "That sounds like a great idea! I'll go there, for sure." And when Dawn headed out, the girls and boys quietly followed her, to see how it would work out.

(Dawn's POV)

Dawn searched around. Giant maple, giant maple... Aha! She spotted a large tree on a small hill. That must be it!

She rushed up the hill, and stood under the giant tree. It really was beautiful, she decided, as she looked at the pond. Suddenly, she heard an all too familiar voice.

"Oh. It's you."

Dawn looked over at a bench to her right she hadn't noticed until now. Sure enough, there sat Paul. She began to edge away, silently. She did NOT want to talk to him.

"Don't go away. I won't insult you, or anything."

She looked back over at him. Was he...asking her to stay? She sat on the bench next to him, with some hesitation. Surprisingly, he didn't move.

"It's pretty, isn't it?" Dawn asked, trying to make awkward conversation.

"Yeah."

Man, he was hard to converse with!

"Dawn?"

She looked at him, surprised. "You...said my name?"

"Yeah. What's so strange about it?"

"Well, most of the time, you call me something like, 'girl' or 'stupid' or 'you'."

"Hm, those do seem to be my nicknames for you," was the reply.

Dawn smiled, slightly. "What did you want to ask me?"

"I bet you were wondering why I defended you from Dylan."

"Well, yes, I was," Dawn said.

"Well, for one thing, Dylan's an idiot," he began. "Another, I understand what it's like to be teased about a dead or missing parent."

Dawn looked at the ground. "What...happened to my dad was that one day, we were driving. I was about five, and he was driving me home from my kindergarten class. Suddenly, a car in front of us swerved. It hit the car in front of it, and while my dad started to step on the brakes, we hit it, anyway. The car behind us also crashed into us. Our car was severely damaged. I made it out alive, but my dad...he..." She struggled not to cry. "That image is still traumatic in my mind, so whenever someone brings up my dad, I kind of break down."

"I'm sorry," Paul said, quietly. Dawn had never seen this side of Paul. He cared, he understood, he related...It was strange, yet comforting.

"I never knew my parents," he continued. "I was raised by my aunt Julia along with my older brother Reggie all my life. I was teased a lot in grade school about it. I became bitter. I feel like I'm still a bit bitter today."

They were both silent for a moment, staring at the Feebas swimming around in the pond.

Paul cleared his throat. "Another reason why I defended you is, well, ever since you arrived at this school, you've... intrigued me. Though I've never really cared about anyone except my aunt and my brother, something about you just...caught my attention." He blushed, lightly. Dawn was shocked. She'd never seen Paul this...well...emotional before. She saw where he was going with this, and blushed, too.

"And I've been meaning to ask you something. Talking with you today was nice," he began, slowly, obviously thinking his sentence through. "And maybe we could do it again, sometime. If you want to."

"Paul," Dawn asked, smiling. "Are you asking me out?"

"Let's not put it that way," he said, looking away, the light, light pink returning to his cheeks. "Let's just put it, 'a boy and a girl, chatting together'. Okay?"

"I would really like that, Paul."

They exchanged phone numbers, so they could plan something later. As Dawn walked to her dorm, she thought about how Paul had opened up to her, and basically asked her out. She hoped she could see him again, soon. He seemed like an honestly nice person, once she'd got him to open up.

As she walked into the dorm room, where the girls were waiting for her, May asked, "You seem to have a lot on your mind, did something happen?" Dawn was silent for a minute, and took a deep breath before speaking.

"I have a lot to tell you."

Ta-da! I'm very proud of this chapter, and I'm so thankful for all your great reviews! I apologize if either characters were OOC in this chapter. Until next time!