Chapter 10

"So…when are you going to tell him?" Caitlyn asked with excitement.

"Tell him what?" May questioned, trying to avoid the subject.

"That you're totally in love with him!"

May then heard footsteps coming from the kitchen. "Shhh!" she whispered. "He'll hear you!"

"Well, you'll have to tell him eventually."

As Ash entered the living room, he suddenly stopped and shook his head. "Wow, Caitlyn. I leave the room for less than five minutes and you're already turning May over to the dark side. What am I going to do with you?"

"I think I know what we can do…" May replied slyly. "Tickle torture!"

"AAGGHH!" the young girl screamed. "May, come on…HAHA! …Get off me…HAHA!...PLEASE!"

Ash cocked his eyebrows slightly as he walked across the living room and sat in the chair opposite of them. He turned on the TV, flipping through the numerous channels.

May finally decided to give Caitlyn a break as she heard the low blare of the television in the background. "Please don't tell him. I will when I'm ready."

"…Fine." Caitlyn said, crossing her arms over her stomach.

The brunette smiled, got off the couch, and sat in the chair next to Ash's. She looked at his face for a few moments as thoughts of him filled her mind. Fortunately for her, the boy was facing the TV screen, so her actions went unnoticed.

All three looked up as they heard the front door open and saw Delia and Ryan enter the house.

"Well, it looks much nicer outside than it did earlier," the woman announced. "You all should get ready soon. The wedding should start in about two hours."

"Thanks, Ms. Ketchum." May said. She, Ash, and Caitlyn made their way upstairs to gather their things.

May followed Ash into his room, where her bag was located. She looked at him nervously as he dug around in his closet, arguing with herself. She finally gathered enough courage to approach her friend.

"Hey, uh…Ash?" she asked.

The young man turned around to face her. "Yeah, May?"

As she gazed into Ash's eyes, May suddenly froze in place, mesmerized by his stare. She tried to tell him what she had been debating about for the past week, but was unable to find the correct words to tell him.

"I…uh…never mind. I…forgot," she said rather lamely.

"Oh. Y-you sure?" Ash asked as he tried to hide his disappointment.

May quickly nodded her head. "Yeah, I'm sure."

"Alright, well… let me know if you need anything, okay?"

"Y-yeah, yeah, I will, Ash. Thanks."

Ash simply smiled as he watched her head for the bathroom door. However, his smile quickly faded once she was out of sight.

'What was she about to tell me?' Ash wondered to himself. 'Maybe she was going to tell me that…no. Don't get your hopes up too high, Ketchum. Sure, maybe she was about to tell me that she likes me in the same way that I like her, and she just freaked out a little. But, then again, maybe she really did just forget. Oh, I don't know! Why does love have to be so complicated?'

May practically ran out of Ash's room, slamming the bathroom door behind her. 'Damn it!' she thought. 'Why did I freeze up like that? I could've told him right then and there! But no, I blew it.' She sighed and looked at her reflection in the mirror. 'But on second thought…maybe what Mom told me is true. Maybe if we really do love each other, things will just fall into place when they are meant to fall. Oh, crap…hopefully I didn't jinx myself by saying the "L" word… oh, well.'

* * *

May slid her hands down the front of her white dress, trying to smooth out any wrinkles that may have appeared as she put it on. Finally feeling satisfied with her appearance, she unlocked the bathroom door and walked down the hallway. The ceremony was scheduled to begin in roughly twenty minutes, and May wanted to get a decent seat before they were all taken. She stopped, however, when she walked by Ash's open bedroom door, to see him in front of the mirror hanging on his wall, struggling to put on his tie. May giggled as she entered his room.

"Is someone having some issues?" she asked with a laugh.

"Hey, it's not like I'm the only guy out there who can't put on a tie. It's harder than it looks."

"Really?" the young woman questioned. She grabbed his shoulders and spun him around so that he was facing her. Within less than a minute, she released him, with his tie correctly in place around his neck.

"What the—how did you do that?" Ash asked in amazement.

May laughed again. "I had to help Max with that countless times when we were younger. We went to dinner at least once a week with my Dad and his employer, and every time we went to some fancy, expensive restaurant that required the correct apparel. It became a habit after a while."

"Well…aren't you special?" Ash smirked.

The girl smiled and said in a more serious tone, "I still think you look nice, though."

"Yeah, you look great, too," the boy said, absent-mindedly placing his left hand on the side of her arm. The two teens stared at each other for a while, each with smiles on their faces. Ash moved his other hand to May's cheek, and she, it turn, placed her left hand over his hand that was on her arm. Ash stroked the side of the girl's face with his thumb as he moved is face down toward hers. She lifted her head up slightly, knowing what he was about to do. Their eyes closed once they were mere inches apart.

May felt the excitement build in her stomach as he moved one hand to her waist. But, of course, all good things must come to an end, especially with an ignorant, twelve-year-old boy present to mess it all up.

"Ash! May! Are you guys ready yet? Everyone's waiting for us at the lab. Where are you two?" Max called through the house. He then knocked on the door of Ash's bedroom, causing Ash and May to break apart just before he entered the room without permission.

"There you are!" the glasses-clad boy exclaimed. He then raised his eyebrows suspiciously, seeing the two friends about six feet away from each other, their arms crossed over their stomachs and odd expressions on their faces. "Right, well…like I said, you'd better get down there before the ceremony starts," Max said before exiting the room.

With blushes on their faces, the two teens exchanged nervous glances before quickly exiting the room. Neither of them knew exactly what had just happened. They both simply decided to forget about it at that moment in time and focus primarily on Ryan and Delia's wedding.

'Oh, man, what was I thinking?' Ash questioned himself. 'Why did I try to kiss her? I don't even know if she likes me like that! I'll just…pretend that it never happened…yeah, that'll work.'

'What…just happened?' May wondered. 'Ash just tried to kiss me…didn't he? It sure seemed like he was about to…but, then again, maybe I'm just over-reacting. Maybe my mind just wants me to think that. Yeah, I'm sure that's what happened. My mind is just playing games with me. No big deal…'