"How much longer until I can go home?" Archie stirred relentlessly in a patients bed.

A nurse dressed as usual rolled her eyes at him, "Your wounds have been healing quickly, but that doesn't mean you can leave yet. Tomorrow earliest if you're feeling up to it."

"I'm ready to go now!" The male hissed while throwing himself up.

He pushed himself to his feet to make himself seem more ready. However his body had other plans and as soon as he was stable a sharp pain in his stomach made him collapse. The nurse in a reluctant haste aided him back into the soft white bed. She checked his bandages for bleeding and sighed in relief when she confirmed no damage had been done. With a hissing sigh Archie crossed his arms like a child, meanwhile his caretaker was preparing new bandages.

The young nurse began replacing his bandages, "Trust me, you're the worst patient I've ever had the feelings are mutual. For the sake of your health just don't do that again."

"Ye' wouldn't have anything to worry about if you'd just let me go home!" He roared in annoyance.

Finishing her work she sighed, "It's against our practice and Matt has advised you stay until you're better. Get some rest, you'll feel better."

Archie observed her as she closed the door. The moment that she was out of sight he quickly began searching the room for something to do. It was literally the worst possible thing for him to be grounded in a bed doing nothing all day long. Scanning his metaphorical jail cell, he realized this entire room was practically baby proofed. He let out a deep sigh colliding the back of his head into the soft feather pillows below him.

He had only just woke up, the idea of attempting to get more sleep drained all his will power. Yet he had nothing he could possibly fiddle with or destroy, so instead he just lied there staring at the plain white ceiling. It seemed as if the walls were closing in around him, the idea of being here longer frustrated him. A boiling fire in his stomach caused him to thrash about sighing for a while, but it didn't cause much entertainment. His patience was quickly fizzled away and he let out a loud horrifying scream to attempt to let out some steam, but that didn't help either.

Finally giving into the nurses advice he closed his eyes. It took a few moments for him to get essentially bored, the black abyss at his eyelids had nothing to entice him. Poor Archie wasn't even the slightest bit tired so he instead continued to stare at the nothingness in front of him. Growing bored of this he tried to imagine something, anything, to take his mind off his current situation. He was encountered with floating colors around his vision, boring, floating, colors.

"I AM SO BORED!" He howled at the top of his lungs.

The door slammed open light attacking his face, "Is everything alright, I heard screaming?"

"No, I'm really bored" Archie replied.

The nurse frowned, "Are you serious, that's it? Do you want a book or something?"

"NO! I hate reading... Actually wait what do you have?" The man asked giving up.

The woman snickered, "Well I'll grab you our cart of books, I'll be right back."

Archie rubbed his eyes in pure agony, why did he have to go through this? His head was throbbing from how tedious this ordeal was, and the last time he actually read a book was a manual back when the Kyogre ordeal happened. That in itself was of complete annoyance, it was worse than sitting around doing nothing. At this point however he'd rather read than be irritated from the pure quiet atmosphere.

The woman returned with a cart full of old books, "It's been some time since we had any donations so some of these books are kind of old. I'm sure you'll find something you like though."

She pushed the cart to his bed side so everything was within reach for him, once he had been searching through the books she left him alone once more. He let his eyes scan through the titles of each book, each of which had not sparked his interest even in the slightest. One he had passed by was a scientific research textbook for volcanoes, the mere thought of it made him cringe as he pushed it away. A bit of dust brushed off onto his skin, it was then he realized how old they really must have been. As he was just about to give up his search a brighter colored novel caught his attention, it was a fiction about a mysterious adventure with a giant unknown sea Pokemon. He swiftly opened to the first page to begin reading the adventure.

Archie wasn't exactly the fastest reader out there, so just the first few chapters he assumed must have took him awhile. The description of this novel was quite advanced for his taste but it didn't really matter, he was enveloped in the story. Every time the daring main character had encountered this mysterious creature it had escaped him, and people began to call him mad. Archie did indeed find the protagonist very relate-able to himself in many ways, which drove him to read further. By the time he had reached the fifth chapter he began to feel a bit tired and laid the book on the counter-top besides him.

Before he could get some rest the door opened, "There is a guest here to see you sir, would you like to invite them in?"

"Who is it?" He asked curiously.

"May, the champion of Hoenn. Quite strange that she'd hang around with you but, whatever" The nurse stated.

Archie smiled brightly, "Yes, yes I would like to see her."

The young nurse gave him a skeptical glare before scampering off to invite his special visitor. It seems almost as if it had been forever since he had seen her, even if it had only been a day. The thought itself was one of sorrow, he knew he had to accept that she wasn't his but he just couldn't let it go. Before he could finish a second thought May had politely walked into the room.

She was as beautiful as always with her hair tied with the red bandana she always wore. However this time he had noticed she was wearing a Team Magma hoodie with her usual attire. The idea of her being with 'him' made his skin shiver, how much he had wished he could kill that man. Instead of dwelling on the minor detail he focused on his happiness for having her even show up.

"Hey there Little Scamp..." He greeted her, staring at her clothes.

The girl shifted uncomfortably, "Hi, sorry about the hoodie. It was Maxie's idea, he thinks it looks good on me."

He narrowed his eyes trying to keep calm, "I bet he does."

"Anyway, I brought you something maybe to keep you from getting bored?" May grinned while seating herself next to him.

Archie raised his brow, "What is it? I've been stuck here, forced to read."

"Oh no, reading it's so terrible!" She replied sarcastically giving him the gift, "I bought a bouncy ball, I found one yesterday when I had nothing to do so I figured you'd like one too."

"What Maxie's got you bored to death already? My, my, if it were me I'd make sure ye' were always entertained" The man replied sensually as he took the blue bouncy ball.

May blushed intensely, "You're terrible!"

"Hey, I'm just saying! Can I use this ball to throw at the nurses?" He asked slyly.

She grinned sarcastically, "No, you butt! It's not for that!"

"What if I just..." He began aiming at a glass on the counter.

May playfully screamed while grabbing him, "No!"

The girl attempted to steal the ball from him but he was way too quick for her. Archie found himself very entertained by her helpless squealing and flailing attempts to take it from him. Finally giving up she withdrawn herself crossing her arms in an amusing frustration. Her face was flushed bright red and her greyish blue eyes were more vibrant than usual. He found himself utterly attracted to her, but he quickly discouraged the thought taking his gaze off of her.

However to his dismay she continued to stare straight into his eyes. She smiled slyly at him like something had seeded itself into her brain, what had he done? May took grasp of his hands, and without thinking he allowed her to as she gazed at him sweetly. Before he could even tell he peered down to realize she had taken the ball from him.

"Whoa little scamp that's not fair!" Archie laughed with a silly grin.

May stuck her tongue out at him, "It's totally fair, you were distracted!"

"Distracted by you!" He blurted out without thinking.

She raised an eyebrow slyly at him, "What?"

Archie stuttered annoyed with himself, "Uh... Distracted by... Yer' hair?"

"Yeah that's exactly what it was, huh?" May replied sarcastically.

He narrowed his eyes at her, "Yes that is what it was!"

"Okay, sure you believe that" The girl proceeded to tease him, "Now I have the ball, and I'm not giving it back because you'll wreck everything."

"That seems like an awfully cocky assumption, I'll get it back" The man responded in a sly tone.

Archie gave her a few moments to relax herself, she kept the blue ball in her lap as she stretched widely. Seizing the moment to strike he attempted to steal it from her, but her reflexes were faster and she simply scooped it up away from him. He then waiting for more opportunities, one after another they failed and he became extremely frustrated.

Without thinking he kissed her promptly on the lips and she returned his affections, this allowed him to distract her at any rate. However he had forgotten just for that slight moment she was taken, and he quickly recoiled with the ball in tow. She stared back at him like a Deerling in headlights. Feeling slightly embarrassed but triumphant in his win he flashed the bouncy ball to her.

"I told ye' I would get it!" He gloated attempting to avoid his mistake.

******

May spoke nervously in response, "Heh, yeah you did..."

The man immediately detected her distress, "Sorry about the thing... I wasn't thinking, I forgot yer' with Maxie..."

"Uhm it's okay I did too... I gotta go, can we forget this happened? I'll see you tomorrow okay... As a friend... Like it's supposed to be" She replied in a depressed tone.

"Oh, okay I'll see ye' tomorrow little scamp..." Archie responded staring at the ground.

Not wanting to make things worse than they already were May ran outside as fast as her legs could carry her. The guilt had already smacked her hard in the gut, how could she have been so ridicul0us and careless? In her mind she panicked, she speed walked through the halls of the center and finally burst to the outside world where Quake was waiting. The creature shook its head at her happily, and nudged her in the stomach.

Her eyes fogged over as she was enveloped into her own thoughts, her Flygon seemed to notice and cocked his head. Attempting to reassure him she swiftly hopped onto his back, he burst into the air diving and swaying with pure joy as she pat him gently. Even though she had felt the need to talk, to say something, anything to help her feel better she just couldn't. Silence took away her words and replaced them with the horrible guilt that barraged her mind.

How could she have done that to Maxie, to herself? Why is it her emotions and stupid brain had to complicate things all the time? May so badly wished to scream her lungs out and release her soul, but she couldn't she was trapped in her own denial and confusion. A constant reminder had clicked in her head, she knew she still cared for Archie, she knew it was wrong. However something inside her made her proceed to see him when the easiest option would be to just cut him out completely.

More questions began to enter her mind as she arrived at her temporary home at Jagged Pass once again. Was she really in love with Maxie? Did she really love Archie? Her eyes glazed over and all feeling of outside elements numbed, all she could do was repeat the same accident in her head. Quake stared at her in a worrisome way as she hopped off of him. With a meaningful gaze she shook her head at him and patted him gently on his larger torso. Within only a few moments she returned him to his Pokeball and sprinted inside through the balcony.

Maxie as always was at his desk working on whatever preparations had to be done. However May felt a coldness deep within her as she observed him so enveloped in his work. She knew it was because of her that he had to, but nonetheless she felt neglected and hurt. All she really wanted was just to finally be happy, but every choice that she made seemed to dig her deeper into a pit of despair. It was a returning thought to her that she might never be as fulfilled as she wished she could feel.

Walking across the red floor she peered around the corner where Maxie was working. He seemed to not have noticed her as she watched him, he had seemed different without his overcoat on. The mans red hair was slicked back as always and his clothes seemed in pristine quality, he appeared so construct and perfect all the time. May couldn't help but feel insignificant in comparison, he was so well organized while she was just a mess.

The red head let out a heavy sigh, "My apologies my dear, this has gotten the best of me."

"It's okay..." She replied in a low tone.

Maxie recognized her voice of despair, "What's the matter? Have I done something to upset you?"

"No, no it's all okay! I'm alright really!" May reassured him, her voice nervous and shaky.

Turning full attention to her he spoke, "Don't play me for a fool, I can recognize when something is wrong."

"I-I..." She squealed.

Analyzing her further he scowled, "Did Archie do something to you?"

"No, I just feel a bit insignificant..." May responded quickly covering up her other feelings.

Maxie stood from his chair and approached her, "Insignificant, why?"

"I guess a bit lonely, I just wish I had more time to spend with you. I wish I was more like you, more collect and organized. I'm just a huge mess, my life is out of control and so are my emotions..." She stated glaring at the floor.

Maxie shook his head, "My dear, you're not a mess or insignificant. I sympathize with you for not having much time together, things have just been quite difficult is all. I'll give it a rest for now they can handle themselves, we'll get some tea and take some time to relax and go to bed okay?"

"Yeah, I think that'll help..." May agreed still in confusion.

Maxie smiled at her gently, a strange thing that she seemed to get more used to nowadays. He then followed by putting away the equipment in their proper places, leaving the desk and area in a clean condition. Once he was finished he kissed her on the forehead to attempt to console her, it made her feel warm and loved. She followed closely behind him not wanting to get lost in this maze, the presence of him made her feel more calm already. Perhaps things would work out after all, she just needed to relax.

******
END CHAPTER

AUTHORS NOTE: So this one is a little short as well but I kind of wanted to end it here for the affect. Sorry to have kept you all waiting so long, I was playing TCG Online and collected the new tournament prizes. Which of course would be Team Aqua and Magma stuff! Hah, anyway thanks for continuing to read and believe in me! I look forward to each review, I love reading what everyone has to say. It even helps to point out any flaws so I can improve in my writing! Thank you all, until next time!