A/N: I know, I know, this is late. What's my excuse? Well besides being busy, having to clean, and having tendonitis in my wrists, when I actually sat down to write this chapter I would get distracted, like get Nightmare Before Christmas songs stuck in my head and decide to sing along lol. The good news is I have decided where I will end this fic, although I'm not sure how long it will go before I get there. The bad news is I have about a month, and about a week and a half of that month I'll be gone, plus when my brother gets back from Japan I won't be able to use this computer (but luckily I'll have my laptop by then). But I'll cross that bridge when I come to it, and try to really crank out some chapters.
Chapter 12
"May?! I didn't know you were coming, or I would've had food ready," her mother, Caroline, exclaimed.
"Mommy," May whimpered, and embraced her mother tightly.
"There, there," Caroline soothed, "You can tell me all about it while I cook some ramen. But maybe you should go put your bags in your room, first."
May nodded, and Caroline gave her a sympathetic smile, gently ushering her along. May dragged her bag up the stairs, and peeked into Max's room, who was lying on his bed watching some T.V. May loved her brother dearly, but they still had their differences. Especially when he had become a teenager.
"Oh. I didn't know you were home," Max commented, flicking his eyes up at her. He had gotten contacts about five years earlier.
May frowned, "Why are you at home watching T.V.? Don't you have some battling to do?" She knew very well that he had already conquered the pokemon leagues, despite his relatively young age.
"Yeah?" Max sneered, which was a trait he acquired in the past few years. "I haven't exactly seen you in any contests recently."
"Whatever," she muttered, rolling her eyes and walking towards her room.
"Where's Drew?," he called after her. She chose to ignore him. Max got off of his bed and walked into her room, "He dumped you, didn't he?"
Shooting her brother a glare, she growled, "Shut up."
"So why did he dump you?," Max continued, crossing his arms and leaning against her doorframe.
May let out a sigh before replying, "He didn't dump me. I dumped him. Why do you care anyway? You're not exactly buddy-buddy with him."
Max pretended to be hurt, "Aw, you're still my sister."
"Right," she responded curtly, shoving her clothes into various drawers, "Maybe you should be nicer to your sister."
This time Max rolled his eyes, "Why don't you just tell me what happened?"
"No thanks," May said, "I'd rather tell Mom."
"Here's an idea I think you may be able to grasp," Max grinned at the glare May gave him, "You can tell both Mom and me at the same time."
"Do what you want, Max," May snapped, pushing her suitcase out of the way, "Because you'll probably just listen in anyway."
Max gave her a skeptical glance, "I have better things to do than eavesdrop on your relationship problems."
May threw her hands up, frustrated, "I think you're trying to confuse me. Do what you want, Max. If you want to come and listen, fine, if you don't, fine." She pushed past him and headed for the stairs.
"Somebody's touchy," he said, grinning again when he heard her let out an exasperated sigh.
"It's been a while since I've walked between cities," Dawn chattered, taking in a deep breath of fresh air. Paul looked, well, thoroughly annoyed.
"I like driving," she continued, "But sometimes you just need the exercise. When's the last time you walked, Paul? All I ever see you do is weight lifting, but you know that's not the same as cardio."
Paul's eye twitched.
"You sure are quiet," Dawn commented.
"Shut. Up.," he growled, "I can't believe how much you talk. No, actually, I can. We've only been walking for about twenty minutes, so can you please just shut up the rest of the way?"
"So moody," she grumbled to herself, crossing her arms. "You can't tell me what to do. Why don't you ask nicely? What I don't understand-"
He sighed loudly.
"-Is that you're rather polite to strangers, but you're just mean to me."
"Have you considered," he replied slowly, "That maybe I don't feel like being nice to someone who just whines at me constantly about not sharing 'feelings' or crap like that?"
Dawn flushed with anger, "What? I don't tell you to share feelings!"
"But you do admit that you whine?," he retorted, smirking.
"Ugh, you drive me crazy!," she screeched, balling her fists in anger.
"Well, now you know how I feel," Paul responded nonchalantly, putting his hands in his pockets. Dawn was speechless. With a 'hmph,' she crossed her arms again and walked along silently. For the rest of the hour she stayed that way, until she gasped suddenly and stopped short.
"What is it now?," Paul snapped, "I was beginning to think that you would actually be quiet."
Dawn ignored him, "My Buneary!"
Paul raised an eyebrow, "What about it?"
"She's in love!," Dawn exclaimed. Paul stood there, stunned while his mind processed Dawn's statement.
Taking a deep breath to calm his frustration, Paul spoke deliberately, "Why are you telling me this?"
She grabbed his arms and shook him slightly in desperation, "Because it's important!"
He rolled his eyes before glaring down at her, "I know you like to talk, but if I don't like hearing you ramble on about human relationships, why in the hell do you think I want to hear you ramble on about pokemon relationships?"
She gripped him tighter. "Get over yourself. My Buneary is in love with Ash's Pikachu," she explained.
He backed away slightly. "Yeah, well you can let go of me now," he said with a sneer. She returned his facial expression equally, but released him. "Anyway," he continued, "What do you want me to do about it? I couldn't care less about Ash's pokemon."
"Listen, jerk," she retorted, placing her hands on her hips, "This is a bigger issue than you think. It's not like Ash would ever part with his Pikachu, and I don't want to give him my Buneary!"
Rubbing his temple, Paul asked, "Is it really necessary for the two to be together?"
Dawn's jaw dropped, shocked, "Paul," she gasped, "I would never stand in the way of love! How could you even think-"
"Alright!," he interrupted hastily, "You have other pokemon, correct? Just leave Buneary with Ash most of the time until you're ready to use her, and then he can send her back."
Dawn frowned deeply, conflicted. Paul noticed this. "What's wrong now?," he snapped.
"Well," she hesitated, "I suppose I could part with Buneary for some time…but…that would require me talking to Ash. I haven't talked to him since we broke up."
"Oh no," Paul mocked, "We wouldn't want that. It might be awkward for a few minutes."
Dawn scoffed, "Well excuse me Mr. I've-never-dated."
"I'm sorry, was that supposed to be an insult?," he laughed, "Because I think you failed miserably."
She flushed with embarrassment, "Oh…shut up!," she spluttered, unable to think of a good comeback. He only laughed harder.
"You know what?," she stated haughtily, "I'm going to kick your ass in a battle one day, and then I'll be the one laughing."
Paul was practically crying, "You think you're going to beat me?!" He burst into another fit of laughter. Dawn stomped ahead angrily. "You think you're so great!," she shouted, "But just because I'm a coordinator doesn't mean that I'm weak! Do you think Drew is a poor battler?"
When he was able to catch his breath, Paul spoke up again, "Drew is a skilled battler regardless of whether he's a coordinator or not."
"So why do you think I'll lose?," Dawn demanded, offended.
"Because," he replied, wiping his eye, "For the first few years you were coordinating, you were traveling with Ash. I have no doubt his pathetic strategy rubbed off onto yours."
"Ash's strategy is not pathetic," she protested, "And maybe I've improved since then! I've won plenty of ribbons, I'll have you know! I've even won a ribbon cup!"
"Big deal," Paul scoffed, "Winning those ribbons all depends on who has entered the contest, and who hasn't."
"What are you suggesting?," Dawn threatened, balling up a fist. Flicking his eyes down at her fist, he became amused, "I'm suggesting that if certain coordinators had been competing when you had, you wouldn't have won."
"You don't know that!," she snapped, poking him in the chest, "Have you even seen me compete? Even if you have, I bet you were barely paying attention. I know you seem to think you're the greatest trainer that's ever walked the earth, but you don't get to judge me, buddy boy."
"Fine," Paul commented, "If you really want to battle me, you can."
"Okay, I will…but not today," she added sheepishly.
"Oh Mom, this is great!," May exclaimed while stuffing her mouth full of ramen. Caroline smiled, "Well I'm glad you like it so much!" May nodded her head earnestly and grinned, slurping up some more noodles into her mouth. Max scrunched his face, "May, your eating habits disgust me, and I'm a sixteen year old guy."
"Shut up," May said with a mouthful of noodles, "I'm just really hungry."
Setting down her chopsticks, May shot Max a glare, "And I didn't ask you to critique my eating style."
Max was about to respond when Caroline broke in, "Alright, that's enough. May, sweetie, why don't you tell me what's wrong now?"
May sighed, "Oh, I almost forgot."
Max cut to the chase, "May broke up with Drew."
"Max!," May shouted, furious. Caroline's eyebrows raised in surprise, but she turned to Max and gave him a look of disapproval, "Max," she scolded, "Let May tell her story. May," she continued, turning back to her, "I thought you decided six months ago that Drew was right for you?"
May groaned, "I know, but we ended up just having the same problems."
"I thought you said you would tell me if they were happening again, how long have they been going on?," Caroline asked, confused.
"Well," May hesitated, "One day."
"One day?," Caroline repeated, shocked, "Are you sure that wasn't a bit hasty?"
"Mom," May whined, resting her head on her hands, "They've been happening but not happening, does that make sense? I mean to say, that I just was ignoring it until yesterday."
"Perhaps Drew deserved a chance?," Caroline suggested lightly, sipping her tea.
"Ugh," May sighed, "Don't side with Drew."
"I'm not siding with anybody," Caroline defended, setting down her mug, "But if you plan on being in a serious relationship, you can't just up and leave over one bad day."
"I know that!," May protested with a groan, "I just really feel like he needs someone different."
"Who do you think he needs?," Caroline inquired, resting her hands on the table.
"I don't have a specific person in mind," May replied, glancing down at her hands, "But he needs someone that will get along with him, someone he adores, someone who's skilled with pokemon, someone who's pretty, and adores him too…"
Caroline smiled, "You can't think of anyone?"
"Don't do that," May said cautiously, "Drew did that! I'm not talking about myself. He doesn't need someone who can't handle a little teasing, and there are more skilled and beautiful people out there."
"You shouldn't say that," Caroline responded, "You sound like you did years ago. You're past that insecure phase, May. You know you're talented, and you know you're beautiful. Isn't your sister beautiful, Max?"
Max groaned, "…Yes."
May put on a small smile, "Thank you, Max, I know that was hard."
Caroline rolled her eyes and laughed softly, "Teenagers. May, if you know that you're describing yourself then why won't you accept it?"
"I just…" May paused, "I'm afraid I'll never get over my differences with him, and I'll be at some point where I'm trapped."
"Trapped?," Max cut in, "What do you mean, marriage?"
"Sort of," May admitted.
"Has Drew proposed?," Caroline asked, her eyes soft and warm.
May shook her head, "No, not exactly. He just assumed one day we'd be married. We were practically engaged to be engaged."
Caroline nodded, "Well what do you think of marriage?"
May blushed slightly, "Well, there is a part of me that would love to be married to Drew. But how do I know it's right? I thought you were supposed to know when right was right, but I still can't help but wonder if there is that better girl out there for Drew. I'm just not ready to get married, Mom."
Max frowned, "May, you keep talking about how there might be somebody better for Drew, but when are you going to think about yourself? Maybe Drew doesn't deserve you, and maybe there's someone better for you!"
"I…just can't imagine myself with anyone else," May replied softly.
"I don't understand this," Max exclaimed, exasperated, "Did you break up with Drew so that you would give him a chance to find another girl, or did you break up with Drew because you knew it wasn't right?!"
May became conflicted and confused, "Both?"
"This doesn't make sense," Max continued, "How do you know it's not right if you can't imagine yourself with anyone else?!"
May became upset, and her eyes teared up, "I don't know, I just love him no matter what; I know he's not perfect. But I want him to have someone perfect, and I'm not perfect!"
"May," Caroline cut in before Max, "I know you mean well, but don't you think of love as accepting the flaws and loving those too? Nobody's perfect, so don't you think Drew loves you regardless?"
"M-maybe he just doesn't know, Mom," May stuttered, feeling ashamed.
"I'm sure he knows, May, especially for someone so privileged. Don't you think he would know what he wants?," Caroline continued, "I think he really loves you, May. You already hurt him six months ago, too, and he still loves you."
"Oh," May groaned, ashamed, "What have I done? I just felt so trapped in La Rousse…"
"It's okay to not be ready to be settled," Caroline stroked her hand soothingly, "But that doesn't mean you have to break up with Drew to do so. You still need to travel, sweetie. And you can always come home whenever you want."
"You probably need to call Drew," Max commented.
May nodded, "I don't want to go back to La Rousse, though."
Caroline smiled again, "You don't have to go back. But I'm sure Drew would like to know that you've changed your mind."
May pushed her chair back, "You're right, I'll call him."
"Uh…hi, Dawn," Misty said, suspicious, "Do you need something?"
Dawn frowned, 'She probably thinks I'm trying to get Ash back,' she thought, before answering, "Yeah, I need to speak to Ash."
"Why?," Misty responded quickly, barely thinking.
"You can ask Ash after you let me speak to him," Dawn replied coolly.
Obviously Misty had not completely outgrown her teenage temper, "What's the big secret, Dawn? It's been a couple of weeks since Ash left you, are you going to beg for him back now?"
Dawn could hear Paul sigh heavily with boredom. She shot him an apologetic glance, because she wanted to sigh as well.
"Why is this taking so long?," he sneered to the phone, although he was not in the visibility of the camera, "Let me talk to the bitch."
"What?!," Misty screeched, making both Dawn and Paul wince, "Who was that?!"
"Uh," Dawn stuttered, her palms slightly sweaty, "Nobody."
"Yeah, right," Misty snapped, "Did you call me a bitch? Because if you did-"
"No," Dawn interrupted, "I didn't call you a bitch…you must have bad hearing. Maybe you should get it checked."
Misty gasped with anger, and Dawn could see Paul smirk. 'Oh dear…Paul's rubbing off on me,' Dawn thought.
Before Misty could start screeching again, Dawn spoke up sternly, "Listen, Misty, I didn't call for a fight. I called to speak to Ash, and I'd be speaking to him right now if you weren't so suspicious."
Misty was flushed with fury, and Dawn gripped the phone, irritated. She was about to snap at Misty again before Ash's voice called from the background, "Hey Misty, are you talking to someone?" Dawn could see Ash come into full view, and he looked a little startled to see Dawn's face on the screen.
"Oh…hey Dawn," Ash greeted, slightly uncomfortable.
"Uh, Ash," Misty tried to speak, but Dawn wouldn't have it, "Hey Ash, good thing you're here, your girlfriend has a problem with transferring calls."
Misty bared her teeth, and Ash quickly grabbed the phone from her, "Misty," he laughed nervously, "Why don't you go check on your pokemon?"
"Alright," she muttered, sending Dawn a death glare.
Ash watched until Misty left the room, and then turned back to the screen, "Was that necessary?"
Dawn scoffed, "I didn't do anything, Ash. I asked to speak to you and she started accusing me."
"Alright," Ash responded, ready to move on to the next subject, "What did you call me for?"
Dawn glanced over at Paul, who was gesturing at his watch, and she cut to the point, "I wanted to call about Buneary and Pikachu."
Ash let out a breath, "I had a feeling we'd have to figure this out."
Dawn held up her hand, "I've already figured it out."
Ash crossed his arms, "I'm not giving up Pikachu."
"Yeah, yeah," Dawn snapped, "You think I didn't know that? I'm going to leave Buneary with you until I need her, okay? So that means you need to tell Misty that when I call I'm not pleading for you to take me back."
He hesitated, "Are you sure you want to leave Buneary with me?"
"I'm not giving her up, Ash, I respect her relationship with your Pikachu. And while I never actually thought this might happen, it has, and so I need to deal with it."
"Okay," he answered, "Thank you."
She nodded and gave him a smile, "No problem, Ash, but about Misty-"
"I'll make sure she knows," Ash responded quickly, giving her a thumbs-up.
Paul scowled, "Can we go now?"
Ash stared at the screen earnestly, "Is someone with you, Dawn?"
"Uh…" She hesitated, unsure of how to answer.
"I thought I heard Paul," Ash continued, peering at her curiously.
She offered another smile, but before she could answer, Paul cut in, "He's more observant than I thought."
"I did hear Paul!," Ash exclaimed, glancing at the corners of the screen, "Is he next to you?"
"Yeah," she nodded, finally relenting, "I'm traveling with him…but," she added before Ash opened his mouth, "It has nothing to do with when we were dating."
"I thought you two couldn't stand each other," Ash commented icily.
"You can choose to believe me or not believe me," Dawn stated, giving him a firm look, "But Paul and I became friends after you broke up with me."
Ash gaped, "It's only been two weeks!"
"Yes, plenty of time for you to start dating Misty, huh?," Dawn asked nonchalantly.
He didn't respond, and Dawn gave a smug smile, knowing she made her point. After another look from Paul, she pulled out her pokeball and placed it in the computer, pressing the transfer button.
"Okay, Ash, I have to go, but you can tell Buneary the deal. I already explained it…sort of," Dawn said quickly, giving a nod of farewell and hung up when the transfer went through and Ash barely said 'bye.'
"Finally," Paul muttered, standing up, crossing his arms, "That wasn't so hard, was it? For something you made such a big deal out of." He walked towards the doors. Dawn's shoulders sagged as she let out a breath of exhaustion. "Speak for yourself," she grumbled, following his figure.
"I'll call Drew for you," Max offered with a smirk.
May eyed him suspiciously, "No thanks," she responded dryly, "I haven't forgotten that he's not your favorite person."
Max scoffed, "Do you blame me? My first memory of him was him being an arrogant asshole-"
"Max!," Caroline scolded from across the kitchen, "Watch your language."
"-who wouldn't stop making fun of you," he finished.
"He's different now," May protested, pouting and crossing her arms.
"Yeah," Max commented, "I'm sure that he is. That whole ordeal about you getting fed up with his teasing was completely irrelevant."
"You're not helping, Maxwell!," Caroline frowned.
"Do you really think that, Max?," May asked softly, her eyes focused on the floor.
Max let out a sigh, "I've always said it, May."
"You don't think there's anything good about Drew?," May became unsure, glancing at the phone warily.
"I never said that," Max answered, making May glance back at him, "I know that he can be better. If the pros outweigh the cons, then don't even listen to me."
"You know I value your opinion," May replied, "But I have made up my mind. And I want you to put the first impression behind you. That was nine years ago. Will you please stop insulting him?"
Max gave her an incredulous look, "May, I'll try to forget the first impression, but if I see a need to insult him…then I will. I'm a sardonic teenager, you said so yourself." He grinned at her, and she couldn't help but smile.
"Okay," May took a deep breath, "I'm ready."
She picked up the phone and dialed the number. Turning to Max and Caroline, she gave them an apologetic grin, "Could you, uh, give me some privacy? Thank you!" Caroline smiled and nodded and dragged Max out of the kitchen with her. After a number of rings, May started to frown, thinking Drew wouldn't pick up, when finally the screen lit up with his face. She noticed immediately that his eyes were puffy, and he looked as if he hadn't shaved or showered, even though it was only a little over a day since she had spoken to him.
Drew blinked, "May?"
She winced at his hoarse voice, "Hi Drew," she said weakly, suddenly feeling afraid and ashamed, "Can I talk to you?"
He looked slightly confused, "Talk?"
She grimaced, he must not have slept either.
"Could you come to Petalburg? I have to talk to you in person," she answered and glanced around the room, unable to look at the screen for too long.
"Tonight?"
"Well, when you can, if it's no trouble…" she continued, feeling shy.
"No, I'll come," Drew said in a clearer voice.
"Maybe you should get some sleep first?," May offered, giving a sympathetic look to his appearance.
Drew snorted, "That's not going to happen. I'll see you tonight."
She simply nodded, "Okay." And he hung up the phone.
A/N: Haha, half that chapter was phone conversatons. Please review!! For a while I got barely any reviews on the last chapter, although I know it was 4th of July time so I could understand, but really, I'm flattered when you all add me to your fav's list but I really, really like feedback lol :)
I don't know when I'm updating the next chapter - I still have to write it. I would hope sometime in the next week and a half, we'll see. You can always check my profile to see any updates. (I really like it when ahnykins does that so I'm totally crediting her for how nice and useful that is)
