A/N Yo! Sorry about how long this took to get to you guys, I've been having trouble writing recently, but I'm determined to get this story finished so it was always in my mind. There are so many projects I've left unfinished (some of which I'm going to continue soon, check my profile for more info) and I'm adamant that this story won't be left by the wayside.
Anyway... Enough about that, thanks a bunch to everyone who reviewed! Six reviews on the last chapter alone! You guys are brilliant.
By ten o'clock the next morning, I was all ready for the knock. At exactly ten, I opened the door and came face to face with Wallace who was about to knock on the door. He nearly knocked on my face.
"Good morning," I said to him. "Where do you reckon we should go?"
"Mornin' Little Red. I think we should go to Lilycove, there's this new dress shop that opened up last month and I've heard that it's amazing."
"Right then. Are we surfing there then?"
"Of course. The water is much pleasanter to travel by."
"Nah, I prefer the sky. It's quicker."
"Really now?" He put a hand on his hip. "It's a race then."
"Oh come off it Wallace!" I mock whined. "It's way too early for this!"
"Nonsense. Stop being a coward."
"…Fine. You're on!" I took off jogging down to the beach and he wasn't far behind me. We got to the beach and he called on his Milotic and I called on Tempest.
"Ready. Set. Go!" He called out and we were both off.
I leaned forward on Tempest. "Onwards to Lilycove! We can't let him win!"
In the end, he somehow managed to beat me to the port city. I could practically see him gloating from the ground as I touched down.
I punched him on the arm. "Alright, alright, you beat me. Get over yourself already." I grabbed his arm and started dragging him along to the shop he was telling me about.
We got inside and were searching for a while before Wallace stumbled across a lovely gem. It was a lovely black dress with a sweetheart neckline. It had thin straps that criss-crossed at the back. It was around knee length and it flared out with a lacy underskirt that was hinted at underneath. There was a thick dark purple ribbon at the waist that was tied off into a lovely bow on the side. In the centre of the bow, there was a small amethyst.
"Oh May!" He said in a singsong voice. "It's perfect!" He pushed me along to the changing room, "Go on Little Red, you need to show me afterwards!"
I rolled my eyes at him. I took the dress with me and tried it on. My eyes widened at my reflection. I wasn't expecting it to actually, kinda suit me. I peeked round the curtain. "Wallace…"
He was there in a second. He pulled the curtain back himself since I was too shy to show him. "Wow. You look fantastic Little Red." He then reached round the corner and pulled out another two dresses. "Try these on." He forced them on me before I could say anything again. "Those two are two versions of the same dress, just in two different colours. I wasn't sure which one would look better." He whisked the curtain close.
I faced the dresses. They were both floor length with a high neck and both sides of the dress was spilt to the thigh and then there was a lace panel on either side of the dress that stretched up and over the hip and stopped short of my chest. One was red, the other was a dark blue. I tried the red one on first, but me and Wallace were both in agreement that the colour was off.
I tried the second one on. I really liked the colour, but I was being a bit shy because this isn't usually something I wear. "Girl, you are getting that dress and you are wearing it tonight. You are going to knock him dead."
I shook my head. "This one and the first one are both lovely, but I can't afford both Wallace."
He poked me in the stomach. "Then I'm buying you this one."
"Wallace!" I cried out in indignation. "I can't let you do that!"
"You look gorgeous in both of them and I'm not letting you sacrifice either of them. Besides, I need to get you a birthday present anyway." He reached behind me and pulled the first dress off the changing rack. "Right, I'm getting you the amethyst one whilst you're getting out of that one. I wish I could be there to see Steven's face tonight."
I blushed and threw the curtain closed. I heard him chuckle.
I got out of the dress as carefully and quickly as I could and raced over to the till. Wallace had already brought the dress and bagged it up. I ran the second one through the till and we added that to the bag too.
Wallace was determined to see Steven's face later, so we picked up a bottle of wine and made our way back to mine. We just ended up chatting with a glass of wine each and then he helped me to get ready. I did my eye make-up whilst he curled my hair. I finished it off with a red lip and made my way to my room to get changed into the dark blue high thigh dress.
"Wallace!" I called out. "I can't find my heels! You know, the cute ones! They've gone!"
"They're out here love!" I heard him call out as he made his way to into the hallway. I came out my room and leaned against the wall as I pulled them on.
"Better hurry up Little Red." He chuckled to me as he walked in front of me.
I gave him a light shove. "Better move then, you big dolt!"
I blinked. Steven was in my living room. I hid behind Wallace. "Wallace," I whispered harshly. "You didn't tell me you let him in."
He laughed. "I know. I deliberately left that out." Then louder so Steven could hear, "you're not hiding behind me darlin'!"
He moved to the side and I felt a bit exposed. I gave Steven a small smile and dropped my gaze. I tucked a stray curl behind my ear in my nervousness. I lifted my head back up again and he was just staring at me.
"In your own time mate." I heard Wallace say.
I couldn't help the small chuckle.
"Arceus May… You look absolutely amazing. I'm speechless." He ran a hand through his hair. "These are for you." He held out a hand that had a bouquet of red roses, he looked a little awkward. I walked forward and took them from him, "thank you Steven. They're beautiful." I let my hand linger on his for a few seconds before I glided to the kitchen with the roses in hand. I dug my vase out and filled it up and arranged the flowers.
"Little Red, he can't keep his eyes off of you. I knew it'd be worth being around to see his jaw drop."
"W-Wallace! S-Shut up!" I heard Steven cry out.
"Skitty got your tongue, Steven?" I joked as I turned around again. My jaw kinda unlatched itself as well. A blush was adorning his cheeks and his softened eyes were downcast and he had a hand in his unruly hair.
"Now whose lost their composure, huh?"
I blinked and then sent a glare Wallace's way.
He held his hands up. "Alright, alright, message received. I'm done teasing you guys, don't worry Little Red, I'll see myself out."
"Thank a bunch for today Wallace, you were a great help." I said sincerely.
"No problem." He gave me a wink, said his goodbyes to Steven and made his way out.
Neither of us spoke for a couple minutes, we were too busy blushing and avoiding eye contact with each other.
Steven cleared his throat. "Well, shall we head off then?" He held out the crook of his elbow. I took his arm and we walked out of my place. I locked up and grabbed Tempest's pokeball.
Steven shook his head. "There's someone I'd like you to meet, May." He pulled out a slim, colourful flute and began playing a gentle, soothing and harmonious tune. Shortly after he started, two beautiful Pokemon appeared in front of him.
"Latios and Latias!" I cried out as I leaned into his arm. I pulled away and rushed forward to greet the two eon Pokemon. "Wow!"
"I was thinking we could ride the two of them to Mauville."
"That would be amazing!"
He helped me clime atop of Latias as he proceeded to climb upon Latios. The two Eon Pokemon then set off for Mauville.
As we were flying, I couldn't help but sneak a few glances at Steven. He truly was beautiful. He had a confident smile on his face and his hair was jutting out in all directions as the wind blew through it. He turned to me and noticed that I was staring. He winked and then focused his attention back to Latios and I was left a blushing mess.
Eventually, we arrived at Mauville and he handed me down from the legendary Pokemon. We thanked them and then bid them farewell.
Steven extended his arm and I slipped my arm through and rested my hand on the crook of his elbow. He then proceeded to lead the way. We took a bit of an awkward shortcut so that we could divert attention as best as possible.
"I will warn you now May; this restaurant is known for having news reporters and photographers lying in wait. Since this restaurant is quite fancy, it is well known for famous guests. Some reporters will stop at nothing to get a photograph. If you wish to avoid the attention, just keep your head down, I will guide you through the crowd."
I was staring up at him at this point and he gave me a smile. The moonlight shining through the trees caught on his eyes and they were a beautiful blend of silver and lavender. I realised my jaw was unhinged and I forced it back into place, I blushed and dropped my gaze.
"Staring again, are we?" His boldness surprised me.
"I-It's your fault for being so d-distracting." I stammered and fought to get my composure back again. "Since when were you so bold anyway?"
He chuckled and ran a hand through his hair and I made the mistake of looking back up at him again.
"Well, I have had some wine…" He mused. "Mainly, I was rather shy because I had taken an interest in you. Well, to be fair, I can be naturally shy sometimes." He fidgeted with his collar. "But I now know that you have also taken an interest in me, so I am a bit more relaxed now."
I laughed and shot him smile. "At least one of us is relaxed. My stomach is going crazy with nerves right now."
Steven returned the laughter. "My stomach is also frayed with nerves, May."
There was a silence for a little while, which I decided ought to be dispelled. "What? The great Steven Stone is nervous? Why, this is new." I gave him a little punch on the arm to show that I was joking.
Finally, we arrived at the restaurant. As we turned the corner, there was a massive uproar. Steven pushed my head down and since they were so focused on Steven Stone, it took them a little while before they even registered that I was beside him.
Steven leaned down and whispered in my ear and I had to desperately fight off the colouring of my cheeks as his breath danced across my ear and down my bare neck that was already chilled from the cold. "Do not answer anything that you are uncomfortable answering, if it is your preference, feel free to keep completely silent."
I nodded, opting for the second option. I ignored a barrage of people asking me about my relationship with Steven Stone, how far we'd gotten and people telling me that I clearly didn't deserve to be in his presence. Also, about whether I knew anything about his relationship with Cynthia.
Steven strolled boldly forward with his eyes trained on the door and he ignored everything else going on around him and focused on guiding me so I didn't go flying as I wasn't looking where I was going.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, we finally made it through the door and the waiter met us and forced the door closed behind us, not before telling the reporters to leave though.
"Sorry about all of that. I hope it was not too daunting."
I shook my head, "It's fine, don't worry about it. It was a little bit intimidating though."
"Here," he placed a hand on the small of my back, "Come with me." I followed along next to him as the waiter led us to our table.
We ended up having a great time, there were a few instances where I was worried that we were going to get kicked out of the restaurant for the amount of noise we were making and the subsequent glares sent our way. We ended up sharing plenty of funny stories and having plenty of laughs over things that had happened over the course of both of our Pokemon journeys.
Eventually, it was time to leave. On the way out, we were once again ambushed by paparazzi. Steven ended up taking my hand and in any other situation, I would have blushed profusely but as it stood, I was just glad for someone to lead me out. Some of them ended up jogging after us so we broke out into a light run as Steven played on the Eon flute. He helped me aboard Latias and then jumped abroad Latios. I couldn't help the giggle that passed through my lips as I watched the people below shouting up at us.
I looked to my left to see Steven Stone watching me with the softest expression on his face. I blushed and he promptly noticed me watching him and blushed himself before turning away.
We stopped outside my house. He climbed down from Latios first and helped me off the sister Eon Pokemon.
"I had a really great time with you tonight. Thank you for this. Even if we did end up getting harassed by paparazzi." I smiled as I met his gaze and fiddled with my fingers.
"I had a really nice time too, maybe we can do this again sometime? And I am terribly sorry about the reporters. They will do anything to get a story that will make them money."
An awkward silence fell over us.
"Well, I should probably consider heading back to mine. I have a rather busy day tomorrow unfortunately. I would love to be able to spend more time with you, May." He reached down and I felt his fingers brush across my cheek before I felt his lips brush my cheekbone.
I blushed to the tips of my ears. I was suddenly feeling rather bold, which I'm attributing mostly to the alcohol and the fact that he can be too much of a gentleman sometimes. I leaned forward on my tiptoes as best I could in heels and placed a light chaste kiss on his lips. I rolled back with my feet and returned to my regular height. He was staring in shock.
"Good night Steven Stone, I hope to see you again soon." I gave the smallest of smiles and in one fluid motion I opened up the door and pretty much skipped inside.
Once inside, I fell against the door and couldn't help the stupidest of smirks from gracing my features, I was in a state of pure bliss.
So, that's the date over and done with. Next chapter, we get sight of the main conflict, don't think I've forgotten about it. Stay tuned for the next chapter, it may take a tiny while, but I will get it out. In the mean time, leave a review! The sight of hitting 18 reviews caused this update to happen sooner than I thought it would
