Saturday; November 6th; May's Residence; 8:35 a.m.

Dawn glanced at herself in the mirror.

She was wearing a buttoned down short sleeve white blouse with a black skirt that fell slightly below her knees. Her blouse was covered with a long-sleeved coat of the same colour. Her hair was combed and kept neatly in a bun. She didn't wear heavy makeup, just a bit of eyeliner and pink strawberry lip gloss.

She just had a half hour remaining to go to her interview today and she wanted to make sure she wasn't late. This was her very first interview for her first potential job. Needless to say, she was very nervous; so nervous that she probably wanted to scream. But she had practiced her sample answers last night to the questions she had been expecting Mr. Rowan to ask.

Letting out a few breaths to calm herself, she straightened her skirt a bit and combed through her hair a few times before finally exiting the bathroom, careful not to wake up a sleeping May.

But the door closed abruptly, making a loud 'click'. She slightly cringed to herself and glanced at May, who was now stirring in her sleep. As she expected, the brunette opened her eyes and looked to where Dawn was. Dawn wanted to beat herself up for being so clumsy that she couldn't even shut a door properly.

"Sorry for waking you up," the blunette apologized with a sheepish grin on her face. She knew how much her best friend valued sleep.

May let out a small yawn, covering her palm. "No problem," she said, rubbing her eyes. "You have your interview soon, right?" Dawn nodded in response. "Well go ahead and nail it then," she said with a soft smile.

Dawn grinned. "Thanks!" As she looked at the time now, she realized that it was probably time for her to leave. She grabbed her purse, phone and May's car keys. "Also, thanks for letting me borrow the car," she said, about to leave the room.

May smiled, nodding in response as she climbed out of her bed. "Tell me how it goes later. Now get out of here!" She shooed her away, with a playful grin etched on her features.

Dawn rolled her eyes. "I knew you always hated me from the start," she sighed dramatically as the two girls giggled before Dawn finally left the room.

8:47 a.m. Chancey Fancy

Dawn's nervousness was escalating at this point. She made several excuses to herself and just told herself to go home and just miss this interview, but she knew she couldn't do that. She wanted this job and she would consider herself pathetic if she just bailed because of some nervous butterflies.

"You're pathetic."

Dawn frowned. The way Paul had spoken to her this week had pierced a hole in her heart. It was as if they were back to square one; back to the way they had both loathed each other when they had first met in the elevator. And the worst part of it was that she had no idea what she had done to make Paul react in that manner and why he was ignoring her.

But she still wanted to remain optimistic. She hoped that he would someday, approach her and confess what internal battle he was going through and she was almost sure that he was probably indeed going through that. Besides, there was no way he would react the way he did unless something extravagant happened.

Her mom had told her one day, that she needed to be patient with some people. She was told that everyone was different and that not everyone was like her; cheerful and an open book. And this applied to the way Paul was perfectly. She liked him. And so, she was willing to give him time; how much ever time he needed.

But she just hoped that it'd be worth it.

She didn't realize someone sat next to her. "Dawn?"

She looked over to the source of the voice and was slightly surprised. "Reggie? What are you doing here?"

Reggie smiled. "I'm here for an interview, what about you?"

Were they applying for the same job? Dawn was intrigued. "Same. Are you here for the waiter job too?" He nodded in response. "Wow, that's such a pleasant coincidence!" The thought of them working together put a bright smile on her face.

"Yeah, I decided to help Paul out, since he's been helping me while I was in that coma for six months. It's just a way for me to return the favour." He explained. As soon as he mentioned Paul, the blunette frowned and simply nodded, not wanting to say anything specifically.

Reggie saw the frown on her face and he instantly knew the reason why she was sad. "I'm sorry for the way Paul's been treating you," he said suddenly, and Dawn just blinked in response, not expecting for him to say that. "But just know that he's dealing with something at the moment. Paul is…complicated, to say the least."

Dawn let out a humourless laugh. "You're telling me." She wanted to ask him why he was treating her that way, since she assumed that he probably knew something about it. They were brothers, after all. But was it too soon? She wanted to give him his time, but still, she couldn't help her curiosity. "You wouldn't happen to know why…would you?"

Reggie couldn't blame her for questioning him that. But he couldn't just blurt out what Paul was feeling when he really didn't know himself. Yes, he had a vague idea, but he preferred it if Paul told her himself. "Yes and no," he said, making her confused. Again, he couldn't blame her for her reaction. "I have an idea of what he's going through. But you know Paul and his one worded replies for everything," he said, escaping a light chuckle. "I just think it's better if Paul told you himself."

But Dawn wondered if he was going to tell her at all. He had never expressed himself to her before. "Will he, though? How do you know for sure?"

Reggie smiled. "Believe it or not, you mean a lot to him. You're the first person that he probably cares about as equally as me. I mean, he doesn't say that…but I can see it on his face."

Dawn was a bit shocked, to say the least. She had no idea that she was that important in Paul's life. It made her a bit giddy with excitement and she couldn't help but blush. It just made her anticipate a potential relationship with him even more. "Really?"

Reggie ignored her comment and instead noticed her blushing cheeks. "Wait a minute," he said, narrowing his eyes. Dawn widened her eyes, afraid that she had been caught. "You're blushing. Does this mean you like him?"

Wow, he clearly doesn't play around. Dawn cleared her throat. "I might…have a small crush on him," she confessed softly, adding to her embarrassment as she watched the older plum haired male grow excited. "But you can't tell Paul! Especially not now!" She quickly exclaimed in worry.

He let out a few amusing laughs. "No, no. Don't worry about it. That's something you two should sort on your own eventually."

A sigh of relief escaped from Dawn's lips. And now she was contemplating whether he actually returned those feelings. He did say that she meant a lot to Paul. But what exactly did he think of her? Did he think of her as a nuisance? A friend? Something more than a friend? "Do you…" she started, not sure how to finish as she trailed off, "Do you think he likes me back?"

Reggie pressed his lips into a straight line. "I don't really know the answer to that," he said, leading to a frown on Dawn's face. "But," he continued, "I said it before and I'll say it again. You mean a lot to Paul, but he just doesn't know exactly how much. That's what I think, at least."

Dawn nodded in understanding. And what Reggie uttered next almost caused her to melt.

"But hey, I wouldn't be surprised if he did. I mean, I tease about you being his girlfriend a few times and he almost never knows what to say to that," he said, grinning.

Dawn couldn't help but return a grin of her own. This whole conversation with Reggie just boosted her optimism even more. Before she could say anything, someone called out her name. "Dawn Berlitz?" She looked up at a lady who was reading her name off of a clipboard. "You're next." She almost forgot she was here with an interview. Reggie wished her good luck before she entered the interview room.

May decided to make her bed before grabbing breakfast. Her parents were probably at work. She grabbed one of her pillows and threw it around somewhere in the room. The pillow knocked over a glass vase and the brunette cringed at the harsh shattering of the glass when it hit the floor. She sighed as she looked over to the million pieces of glass on the floor. "Great," she muttered to herself.

A knock was heard on her locked bedroom door. "May, are you okay? I heard a loud crash." Max's voice was heard from across her door.

May groaned to herself. But still, she responded, "I'm fine, Max," she said, in a sweet and gentle tone.

"Anyways, Drew's downstairs right now. He came to do a project with you, I think."

Her blue eyes lit up. She had forgotten all about that. Excitedly, she walked over to her door, about to open it, when she suddenly yelped out in pain as she accidentally stepped on a piece of glass. "OW!" She stepped back, careful not to step on another piece of glass as she lifted her foot to look at it. As expected, it was bleeding.

"What happened?" Max asked worriedly.

"I stepped on a piece of glass," she whined. "My foot's bleeding."

"May? Are you okay?" It was Drew's voice this time. "Open the door and be careful," he told her.

Practically limping towards the door, she managed to open it without stepping on another piece of glass, to see both Drew and Max with worried expressions on their faces. Drew glanced down at her bare foot and saw blood seeping out from underneath and cringed. "Oh man, that looks pretty bad."

May tried setting her foot down but Drew stopped her short when he said, "No, don't. If you set it back on the floor, the glass might go deeper into your foot."

May frowned. "Well then what should I do?"

Drew looked at Max from behind him. "Max, you should bring some hot water. And get some salt, and a first aid kit." Max was confused, but then realized instantly what those items were for and nodded as he then turned around to walk down the staircase.

Drew looked at May again and sensed she was probably in pain. "It'll be fine. We'll just have to get the glass out. But first we need to stop the bleeding," he said matter-of-factly. May just nodded, not knowing what else to say. He looked around the room. "You should sit down," he instructed.

May turned away from him and tried to limp towards her bed, but then Drew came in front of her, effectively managing her to stop in her tracks. His hand was slowly reaching out to her waist, but he had a questioning look in his eye, as if he was seeking for her permission. May was confused at first, but realized he probably wanted to help her. She hesitated for only a second before she nodded.

He reached down and lifted her off the floor bridal style, carrying her over to her bed, not noticing a crimson red brushing her cheeks. Just like the hand holding the other day, this touch felt gentle. It felt good.

She was sitting at the rest of her bed now and she watched as Drew crouched down, not taking his eyes off of her. He looked so concerned, just for a piece of glass in her foot. "How did this even happen?"

Before May could reply, Max entered the room with a tub filled with water and the supplies that Drew had asked for. He gave the cloth over to Drew and he thanked him in return. Drew turned back to May, glancing at her, before she gently grabbed her foot.

She watched him carefully as he crouched down again. He took the cloth and pressed it gently to where the source of the cut was, applying just a bit of pressure. He kept applying the pressure until the bleeding eventually stopped.

Then, he got up again and took the bucket of warm water that was resting on the floor and brought it over to where May was sitting. He added in some salt and stirred it together before he looked at May. "Put your foot in here for a while," she said.

"But why?" May asked, clueless.

Drew rolled his eyes. "Just do it," he said with a slight tone of annoyance as she put her injured foot in the warm water.

"Oh," Max exclaimed. "The warm water will help to remove the glass," he said, grinning to himself, as he further understood why Drew was doing this.

"Thanks for your input, Einstein," May commented, rolling her eyes. Max just ignored her while Drew chuckled lightly.

After a few minutes, Drew instructed May for her to remove the foot from the warm water and he took a hold of it before he cleaned it once more with another cloth. He then grabbed a tweezer and when May eyed the tweezers, she started to panic. "No," she retracted her foot from Drew's hand. "It's fine now. It stopped bleeding so-"

"May, if you don't remove the glass now, it's going to get worse," Drew said, but he understood why she was hesitating.

But May continued to remain stubborn. "No, it's going to hurt!" She whined childishly. Max scoffed at her immaturity.

Drew sighed, figuring she needed some sort of distraction from the pain. But what kind? His eyes wavered as he got an idea. "Don't make this any more difficult than it needs to be, December."

As expected, May scowled. "It's May, stop intentionally getting my name wrong! You think you're so hilarious when you mix up my name, but it's so lame! You need to-"

"Done," he interrupted, holding up the tweezers in his finger. A small smirk lingered on his lips when he saw how shocked she was. She looked down on her foot to see that the glass had been removed.

"But how? I didn't even feel anything!"

Drew chuckled. "Yeah, because the warm water helped to move the glass to the surface. I wasn't giving you a pedicure," he said, rolling his eyes.

May sighed a breath of relief and was about to stand up when he stopped her again. "Not done yet," he said, with a slight smile on his face. May raised an eyebrow curiously and then watched him as he grabbed a bandage and applied it to her foot. "Now we're done," he said satisfactorily, standing up as a grin spread across his face.

If anything, May was impressed. She couldn't believe he had executed this in such a perfect manner. And the best part was that he was so careful and gentle. She stood up from the bed and walked towards him with a grateful smile on her face. "Thanks a lot, Drew."

He returned the smile. "No problem."

"How do you know so much about this stuff anyway?" Max questioned.

Drew turned around, facing him. "My dad was a doctor so I kinda picked up a few things honestly," he admitted, but his tone sounded disgusted. "I used to admire him. But then he left us for another woman. I can never understand any guy that would choose to do that."

May was intrigued. "Are you living with your mom then?" she asked, curiously.

He glanced at her and nodded. "Yeah. My parents were divorced a while back," he explained. May frowned. She couldn't imagine what life would be like if her parents divorced. Life would be so much different. "Anyway, enough of my life story. How about we finally get started practicing our lines?"

May nodded. "Yeah, sounds good."

9:11 a.m.

The first few minutes of being questioned during the interview process had been almost a breeze; they were pretty much softball questions asking about Dawn and what she was like. But she could tell that the next few questions weren't going to be that easy.

"Okay, Dawn, what kind of experience do you have?" Mr. Rowan asked her from the chair he was sitting on behind his desk.

Dawn knew this question was coming. "Well, I haven't had any experience being a waitress. But I'm a team player and I love people so I'm certain I'd feel comfortable talking to customers," she said with a bright smile on her face, trying her best to appear confident.

He seemed satisfied with the answer and proceeded on. "Why do you want to work at this restaurant?" he asked.

Because I need a job and you guys were the only one who called me in for an interview, she thought lamely. "I think I'd probably enjoy working in a restaurant. I love meeting and being around people and I'd be more than happy to serve them. Plus, this is my favourite restaurant to eat from." She had to admit, she was doing fairly well with these answers.

"Alright," he said, jotting something down in his clipboard. "How would you deal with an angry customer?"

Dawn thought about the question for a bit. "Well, first I'd listen to what they have to say. And then I'd probably try to come up with a solution. If I can't, I'd probably look for the manager."

The questioning continued for about ten minutes. All throughout the interview, she just kept wondering when this would be over. She found herself lying through some of the questions, but she didn't really mind. It was well worth if she wound up getting the job.

"Thank you for a pleasant interview, Dawn." Mr. Rowan said in what felt like forever to Dawn and she sighed a breath she didn't even realize she was holding. She nodded and bid goodbye to him before she left the room.

"So, how'd it go?" Dawn heard Reggie ask and she stopped walking.

"It went…okay, I guess," she said, not entirely sure how to answer. "I think I did pretty good," she said a bit more confidently.

Reggie grinned. "That's great. It's going to be my turn soon in a while."

Dawn smiled. "Good luck."

He returned the smile. "You too," he said vaguely. Was he referring to the job or something else? Dawn just shrugged it off before walking away.

10:01 a.m.

Drew and May were now gathered in her room alone (much to Drew's liking) and they both had their lines typed out on paper and were reading it. "Have you ever read Romeo and Juliet?" Drew asked curiously, raising an eyebrow.

May laughed sheepishly and she seemed a little embarrassed. "Is it bad if I say no?" Drew looked at her with a 'Really?' look. "I mean, I know the synopsis. Romeo and Juliet fall in love and die in the end because of the feud in their families. Tragic love story," she explained.

He shrugged. "Pretty much. I'll give credit where it's due. Now how about we start our lines?" May nodded while he cleared his throat in a highly dramatic fashion.

"What lady is doth, which doth enrich the land of yonder knight?" he spoke, putting a hand to his forehead so melodramatically that it made May laugh. "Hey you can't laugh!" He frowned.

"It's just hard to take you serious like this, being all dramatic. It's so...un Drew-ish," she responsed.

He raised an eyebrow and a hint of a smile was seen on his lips. "Un Drew-ish?" he repeated. "Alright, then let's skip to another scene. Maybe where Romeo and Juliet kiss," he suggested just to see how she'd react.

May's blood went cold as she widened her blue eyes. What did he say? "Kiss?" she repeated unbelievably. She didn't realize that getting into a drama like this would mean she'd have to kiss Drew! Ok, seriously, May, what did you expect from a love story? For them not to kiss? Her mind taunted her. "How many times do Romeo and Juliet kiss?"

He had to let out a smirk. "Not sure, maybe five times?"

May was mortified now. Would she have to kiss Drew during the play around five times? She wasn't sure if she was ready for that. "I can't…" she trailed off, sitting up from her bed. She wasn't sure how to respond.

"You can't what, May?" he pressed from behind her, still sitting on the bed.

"I can't kiss you," she said, turning around to face him. She was hoping that he wasn't going to ask why.

Much to her surprise, he just shrugged. "Alright. Guess I'll just have to do the drama with Brianna instead."

May raised an eyebrow, a sudden pang in her heart. He was just replacing her so quickly? Without even a second thought? "Who's Brianna?" she inquired, with a hint of annoyance.

"The understudy for Juliet," he explained, with a small smirk. He wondered if she was beginning to get jealous. "Hey if you don't want to do the drama then I can't force you, right? That's okay though, Brianna will fill in for you." He watched her reaction very carefully.

She couldn't imagine the thought of her being Juliet, or more didn't like the fact that she'd be Juliet. Most of all, she wouldn't like the thought of Drew locking lips with someone like her. Did he ever tease her? Did he ever get her name wrong? "No, Brianna can't be Juliet. I signed up to be Juliet and I'm not backing out! May Maple is not a quitter!" She exclaimed.

He just nodded in amusement. "You sure? That means you're gonna have to kiss me," he said, a teasing glint in his eye.

May suddenly felt her heart soaring. The way he was looking at her almost pulled her in like a moth to a flame. Arceus, what was happening? "I-It won't be me kissing you. It'll be Juliet kissing Romeo," she protested dryly.

His smirk widened. He knew she was just trying desperately to avoid the entire situation. But he still had to be careful. He had to make sure if this was what she really wanted. "Eh, you know what? Brianna will probably be a much better kisser," he said, shrugging.

Her jaw dropped and she felt heat crawl against her skin at that name. "How would you even know?" she asked.

"Have you seen her lips? They're so soft and she even wears lip gloss," he explained, watching May grow angrier at his words. "Five kisses with those lips? Hell yeah."

"I told you that I'd kiss you in the drama!" May retorted as she practically felt herself fuming with rage.

He smirked again. "I thought you said Juliet would be kissing Romeo?" She felt heat rise to her cheeks. He stood from the bed and walked towards her. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you want to kiss me. Do you want to kiss me, May?"

She realized she was trapped and was lost for words. Although, now that he brought the question up, she couldn't help but wonder what his lips would feel like on her own. If holding his hand had caused electricity to course through her veins that day, then she couldn't imagine what it'd be like kissing Drew. She hadn't been feeling this way since Brendan was her boyfriend.

But she knew that Drew wasn't like Brendan. He had proved that several times, especially today. She was guaranteed that he would never hurt her.

Fuck Brendan, she thought. She was ready to put her past behind her.

And so, in what felt like forever, May whispered her response so softly that she was sure he wouldn't hear it, "Yes."

But he did. And no doubt, he was shocked. "What?" he asked in a stupefying manner.

She refrained from rolling her eyes and closed the distance between them, closing her lips on his for just a brief second, wanting to prove herself and her point. And she hoped he got the message. Before she released, she had felt absolute euphoria, despite it being a simple peck.

Breaking out of his shocked trance, he connected their lips together again, eager for more. He was so satisfied that he was finally being able to kiss her after waiting for such a long time. Heaven knows he was keeping his feelings inside for way too long. His right palm was tangled in her brown hair while his left hand was kept gently on the side of her waist.

"Well I might be wrong here, but I think you wanted to kiss me more than I wanted to," she grinned through the kiss.

He broke the kiss and muttered, "You have no idea."

She raised an eyebrow. "Wait, really?"

Drew rolled his eyes. "Duh. I thought it was obvious but in case you still haven't gotten it through that little dense head of yours, then I'll say it. I like you. And I have been for a long time," he admitted.

His confession registered in her head and now that it was out in the open, she felt extremely guilty. She realized that he was probably waiting for her consent for months. "Well now I feel really bad," she said, looking towards her feet.

He lifted her chin up with a finger, allowing her to face him. "It was worth it though," he said, pecking her lips for a quick second.

May raised an eyebrow. "What was up with the whole 'you wanting to kiss Brianna because she has soft lips' then?"

Drew laughed. "Oh, that? I was just trying to make you jealous," he admitted and grew even more amused when her jaw dropped.

"I can't believe this! You think you're so amazing when clearly, you're not! And you think you're all that when you flip your hair, when you're nothing but a cabbage head! I mean, seriously, who even has that colour for hair? That's ridiculous and you're such an annoying little-" he cut her off, kissing her again, effectively getting her to shut up. She tried to pull away, but he just held her tighter. She ended up giving in and responding back, allowing him to smirk through the kiss in satisfaction.

They didn't realize when the door swivelled open. "Hey, are you guys-WHAT THE!" Max exclaimed loudly, causing the couple to split apart in seconds, looking at him in embarrassment. "Well this is some project, huh?" he commented in amusement.

May groaned to herself. "Get out, Max!"

Max rolled his eyes, as he adjusted his glasses. "Alright, alright," he said before leaving the room.

"You're such a hothead sometimes," he said, grinning.

"Hey you're the one who likes me," she pointed out, smiling.

He smirked. "Touché." He kept caressing her face with his thumb and she closed her eyes at the touch. "You know what I realized?" She opened her eyes and gave him a questioning look. "We kissed four times," he said, with a sly grin. "Almost as much as Romeo and Juliet did."

Her cheeks reddened at the realization. "Oh. Well, we might as well…umm, practice the last kiss…right?" she cleared her throat in her pathetic attempt at flirting. His kisses were beginning to get addictive.

"Hmm…" he said, pretending to think. "Nah, I think we're-" He stopped himself short and laughed when he saw her giving him a killer look. He caressed her right cheek and kissed her again.

1:15 p.m. City Mall.

Paul was in the middle of his break and he was frustrated with himself. Just before his break, he couldn't concentrate. He kept giving customers the wrong movie tickets or there were times when he wouldn't give the correct amount of change or issue a receipt.

And it was because Dawn kept appearing in his head.

Little things would just remind him of her and that just agonized him. He wanted to ignore her and if he had to be honest, ignoring people was probably the easiest thing he could do. But it seemed almost impossible with her.

"Hey, Paul."

He looked towards the source of the voice and it wasn't someone he was expecting. It was Ash. He realized he hadn't seen or spoken to him in a while.

"I was just wondering if you've seen Misty lately? She hasn't really been responding to my texts." Ash asked.

Paul raised an eyebrow but didn't remember seeing her in art class this week. "No," he simply responded.

Ash frowned. "Well I haven't seen her at all this week." He then remembered how broken she seemed when Paul had rejected her at Daisy's party. "By the way, this is my curiosity speaking, but is everything okay between you and Misty?" Paul didn't really understand what he meant, and Ash further explained. "Well," he said, scratching his black raven hair sheepishly. "I kinda know that she confessed to you and how you let her down."

Paul grimaced. He did remember seeing her disappointed, but he didn't realize she had been that upset. "You should talk to her," he said.

A surprised look was seen on Ash's face. "Oh no, she's fine and everything, I was just wondering if anything was awkward between the two of you and stuff," he rambled. Then he sighed heavily. "Well thanks anyway, I'll see you around."

Paul just nodded in response before he watched him leave the opposite direction. Just after he sighed to himself, he heard his phone ring.

He answered it once he recognized it was Reggie. "Yes?"

"Hey! How's my favourite little brother doing?" He spoke across the phone in an overly enthusiastic manner that made Paul just roll his eyes.

"Fine," he responded, refraining from ending the call. "Did you call to tell me something?"

He heard Reggie laugh and he could only wonder what was so amusing. "Well, yes. But geez can't I call you because I love you?" Paul grimaced. Yes, he was aware that he loved him, but it was so cringy to his ears.

"Get to the point," he said flatly.

Reggie laughed again. "Alright, well, I got an interview at your previous workplace." Paul wasn't sure why he mentioned that again, since he was already aware. "And apparently, so did Dawn."

Paul hesitated to say anything. It was then here that he realized he was curious about her and wanted to know more, for some strange reason. But again, it irked him that he was curious because he didn't want to feel this way.

He heard him continue speaking. "And the two of us talked right before her interview. She asked about you." Paul couldn't believe that she wasn't…angry with him. Why was she still concerned about him after he had told her off this week?

"Why?" he found himself asking.

"Oh," he mused, "That's another story. You'll know eventually," he said vaguely. Paul wasn't sure what he exactly meant by that.

"Hn."

"You know, I hope you thought about what I said. Just let Dawn in. She's definitely worth it and she won't go away," he said, altering to a more serious tone.

But Paul didn't know that for sure. All the people he trusted in his life vanished for a while. He was just so confused and conflicted with himself. "Did you have any more dreams?" He tried to divert the topic lamely.

"No," he spoke softly. "And I know what you're trying to do, Paul." Apparently, he couldn't evade from his brother, Paul realized. "Maybe you could tell her how you really feel and tell her why you're ignoring her. She'll understand."

He didn't understand why he was suggesting that. Reggie knew that he had trouble expressing himself. "I'd rather not," he said.

"Paul-"

He interrupted him. "I gotta go, we'll talk later." And he ended the call. He hated the way he just ignored his advice.

Still, he began to ponder over his brother's words of wisdom. He never explicitly stated what he meant by telling Dawn how he felt.

…Maybe he could use Reggie's dream about the accident to his advantage. This would make Dawn stop attempting to contact him and probably make her hate him. That sounded abhorrent, he realized, but Dawn hating him was probably what he needed.

1:43 p.m.

Dawn parked in May's driveway before she exited the vehicle. Since it was the weekend, she had wanted to catch up with all her assignments, especially with her math. No doubt Conway was extremely intelligent, but she wasn't used to his style of tutoring as yet.

As she was about to enter what had been her home for months now, she stopped when she noticed an all too familiar run-down vehicle park in the driveway as well. She was both shocked yet anxious when she saw Paul close the door as he got out from his car.

Again, she hadn't seen him for most of the school week and she certainly didn't expect him to be here. Her heart started beating unconsciously when he walked towards her with somewhat of an intimidating gaze that made her stomach turn into knots.

He looked down at her once he approached her. "We need to talk," he said.

Hell yeah we do, Dawn thought. She wondered if he was prepared to tell her why he had been acting so strange. And why he had been ignoring her and pushing her away.

"The other day you asked if we're friends," he continued. Dawn's eyebrow raised, wondering where he was going with this. "The answer is no. We're not friends."

Her eyebrows furrowed with confusion. "What? Why not?"

Paul's heart clenched. Arceus, he couldn't believe he was about to say this. "I can't be friends with anyone that tried to kill my brother," he spat. "Even if it was an accident."

Dawn swore her heart stopped. Silence ensued between the two as she tried to process what he had uttered. "…What did you say?" she asked in absolute shock. He looked in her blue sapphire eyes, waiting for her to continue…waiting for her to yell at him. "You think I put your brother in the hospital in a coma?" she asked in disbelief. How could he even think she'd do something like that?

He snorted. "Don't play innocent. Reggie's been recalling the accident in his dreams and he sees you. He saw you crash into him that night." Now, this he knew was a lie, since Reggie had never explicitly said that.

Dawn was at a loss for words. She was trying to comprehend his logic. She couldn't believe that he thought she was responsible for Reggie's accident. "Are you insane? Paul, I've never even hurt a fly! What makes you think I can..." she trailed off, her anger accelerating. "Arceus, Paul, I lost my own mother because of a car accident too! We were in the same boat! How can you even think I'd do something like this?!"

The way she was defending herself so confidently and proudly just gave him an assurance that she wasn't the cause for the accident.

He believed her.

But he didn't want her to know that.

"And now I feel stupid knowing that I supported you during that time. I supported the person who made our lives miserable for six months," he purposefully spat and saw her jaw drop.

"I didn't do it, Paul! You should trust me enough to know that!" She yelled.

I do trust you. But I'm afraid. "Hn."

She grew aggravated. She couldn't believe that he wouldn't trust her. And come to think of her, Reggie never mentioned anything about the dreams. "Well then why didn't Reggie talk to me about the dreams if he saw me? I met him today and he never mentioned a word about it! Why's that, Paul?" she exclaimed.

Damn it, Paul cursed in his mind. "Reggie doesn't care if it was you. But I do. Only I know what we've been through those six months and I'm never going to forgive, let alone be friends with that person." He retorted smartly.

"But…but you know me! Do you really think I can do something like that? Don't you think I would have mentioned about me being in a car accident too? It doesn't make sense!" Dawn was practically hoarse from yelling.

"If you're clumsy enough to spill something on my shirt, then you can undoubtedly crash into Reggie too."

Dawn flashbacked to that time when she had nearly knocked over Reggie when she was on her way to Daisy's party. "I may be clumsy, Paul, but I'm not that clumsy." He grunted in response and she just wanted to scream in frustration.

She didn't know why she was wasting her time. "Fine. If you don't wanna believe me…" she spoke softly, so softly, that Paul was almost afraid to hear her continue because of how broken and disappointed she sounded. "Then it's your problem. I don't want to be friends with someone who can't trust me." She averted her gaze, not being able to face him.

'You're the first person that he probably cares about as equally as me. I mean, he doesn't say that…but I can see it on his face.' Dawn recalled Reggie's words. Now that Paul had revealed why he was acting colder than usual to her, she wasn't sure if Reggie's words were true anymore.

This was exactly what Paul wanted. She had spoken the words he wanted. But when he saw her sniffle and wipe her tears away, he felt a sword piercing into his heart. He was disgusted by the way he made her cry for countless times and he absolutely despised himself.

He felt like a sick monster.

"Good riddance," he found himself saying before he turned away from her, but his fists were clenched into fists and his eyes were shut before he opened them and made his way back into the vehicle.

A ringtone blared loudly, and he slid his finger across the phone and then put it near his ear. "Hi Reggie," the enthusiastic voice spoke.

A grin spread across his features. "Hi. Long time. What's going on?"

The voice laughed across the phone. "I'm coming over to visit. Been a while right? I can't wait!" the person said excitedly, rather too excitedly. It sounded as if the person was starting a car engine. Then he heard the person's speech become slurred. "I've always loooooved those Geico commercials. Fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent-"

"Wait," Reggie interrupted. "Are you drunk?" he asked in astonishment.

The person laughed again. "Oh come on Reggie, learn to live a little."

"You cannot be driving while you're drunk. That's dangerous!" He protested. "Look, whatever you do, do not drive." But he didn't hear anything else but the sound of the phone call being ended. He groaned to himself, probably realizing that the person was too drunk to listen or care.

He'd probably have to drive there himself to ensure things wouldn't go chaotic.

Wow I am on fire with these updates! I kept typing this whenever I had the time. I've also had to erase and maybe change a few scenes here and there. And yeah, this chapter practically revolved around May, Drew Dawn, Paul and Reggie. Speaking of which, YAY CONTESTSHIPPING! About time right?

I'm really sorry about you guys having to deal with how cold Paul is being to Dawn right now. I don't like it either ahaha. But trust me, it's needed, at least imo.

Any idea on who the person is that crashed into Reggie? Do you guys still think it's Dawn? Well...I doubt anyone thinks it's Dawn. I'm not sure if the last scene made it obvious or not...then again, it might only be obvious to me.

Thanks for reading! See you guys next time!