Hi guys! Okay so first I have to say a big THANK YOU to mednin for reviewing basically every chapter and getting me over a 100 reviews! It basically inspired me to write this one haha. I didn't think this story would get this many reviews, to be honest, but boy you guys proved me wrong. Thank you all!

Read on!


Monday; November 29th; Lumoise High; 7:58 a.m.

The rest of the weekend didn't exactly turn out in Dawn's favour.

May had ignored her and wouldn't even heed to a single word Dawn had attempted to say. When she came back from work on Sunday evening and tried to reason with her, the brunette would just turn the other cheek. Even now on Monday morning, the two girls barely spoke to each other on the ride to school.

Dawn felt guilty; she internally blamed herself for keeping her relationship with Paul a secret from her. She hated lying to her best friend, especially one that was constantly there for her in difficult times and provided a roof over her head.

The blunette watched as May walked towards the school building without sparing her a passing glance. Dawn sighed to herself, a frown on her face, before following May from behind.

The frown instantly formed into a small grin when she immediately noticed Paul taking out books from his locker. She was standing a few feet away, his back facing her. A mischievous look formed in her sapphire blue eyes as she took slow and careful steps towards him. When she was close enough, she covered her mouth with her palm to prevent herself from laughing.

She crept closer and was about to pull a harmless prank when suddenly he turned around, his nonchalant expression changing to a mixture of confusion and slight shock, obviously not expecting her to be behind her. The smile had been instantly wiped away from her features. "Why'd you have to turn around?" She complained, only adding to his perplexed look.

"What?" he asked, staring at her with the same expression.

"I was trying to scare you but then you turned around!"

Paul slowly nodded, but still had the confused expression on his features. "My bad?"

Dawn rolled her eyes, smiling to herself before she reached up and hugged him. "I missed you."

He snorted as he reached out and reciprocated, feeling her arms go around the back of his neck. "It's only been a day."

She pulled back and raised an eyebrow cheekily. "What's your point?" He shook his head in slight amusement. "It's a common thing to say between a boyfriend and girlfriend…I think. Plus, it is true."

As irrational and crazy it sounded to Paul, he had to admit that he had missed her too. Their date on Saturday night may have been one of the best days he'd ever experienced and the fact that he never wanted to leave and constantly be around her, only proved her point. "Point taken," he replied, a smile forming.

She grinned before turning her right cheek towards him and dabbed it with her finger. His heart started beating up by a mile, not missing her insinuation. He looked around, noticing students lurking around the hallways and hesitated, as heat rose up his neck. "Now?"

She turned to glance at him with an incredulous look. "Paul Shinji, are you embarrassed of me?" she asked, her eyebrows slightly raising and the tone of her voice indicating that she was slightly teasing.

But Paul didn't quite catch her tone. "No…I'm just not a fan of…public display of affection."

She pressed her lips into a thin line and sighed. "Hm," she said, pursing her lips. "You have a point." Paul looked relieved, until she smirked. "But I don't care," she said, grinning again before turning her right cheek towards him again.

Paul figured she wasn't going to leave until she got what she desired. He sighed as he managed to ignore the people around him before he pressed his lips against her cheek lightly. Dawn looked satisfied as her eyes lit up, but then, much to his grimace, she dabbed her other cheek as well. He could see the slight smirk that was threatening to form on her lips as he sighed, bending slightly downwards.

Then, with lightning speed, she cleverly turned her face forwards, allowing his lips to land on hers in a small one second peck. Dawn couldn't help but to laugh when a shocked expression overtook him. "Wow, sunshine, when did you turn evil?"

Dawn shrugged innocently. "Oh, just about when I started hanging around this sour plum."

Paul took notice of his surroundings and when he realized most of the students had vanished, he grabbed her wrist and yanked her towards him, as a slight gasp escaped her lips, before their bodies were pressed tightly together. He smirked, noticing the apparent blush on her cheeks. "What happened to sugar plum?" His voice had gotten deeper and she could feel his warm breath slightly fanning her face.

Dawn couldn't find it in her to respond; there was no way she could ever get used to his sudden surge of confidence. She'd been the one flirting with him and now the tables were turned. "Y-you're not being nice right now," she managed to say after what felt like forever, as she felt herself slowly crumbling.

"Oh, get a room!" A familiar voice spoke and the two split apart in seconds before Dawn realized she was looking at May. "And you might as well stay in the room so that no one ever knows about you two." She said, trying her best to sound as petty as possible. Paul could only stay quiet but assumed that she was aware of their relationship.

Dawn sighed in response. "May, please listen to me. I didn't tell you because I knew you'd react this way."

May narrowed her eyes. "Well of course, did you ever think that I'd be pleased you're going out with a douche like him?" She slightly gestured towards the plum haired male, who didn't seem to be affected by her words. "And it only makes it worse when you kept lying to me!"

But Dawn grew slightly irritated. "You can't talk about him like that, May. And I'm happy being with Paul. Why can't you be happy for me too?!" She found herself yelling. Paul looked at her, pleased that he was defending him in front of her supposedly best friend.

May scoffed. "Because whenever you are happy, it only lasts for a good while until he," she spat, glancing at him again before looking at Dawn again, "hurts you again. I can't remember the last time when he hasn't hurt you."

Dawn loved May a lot and hated that they were fighting, but she didn't have a right to decide her dating choices for her. "He hasn't hurt me ever since we started dating and I know he'll never intend to. You don't know him the way I do. We've been through–"

"I don't need to know him! He's just gonna do the same thing over and over again and you just don't get it, Dawn!"

"No, you don't get it!" Dawn retorted.

Leaf, who had just arrived, noticed the commotion and walked towards the group curiously. "What's going on?"

The two girls paid no attention towards their other friend. "I can't believe that you would wanna be with a guy who's literally almost killed you! There are so many other better guys!" May continued yelling.

"May, you're the one who was encouraging me a month back to tell Paul about my feelings," she said, her face softening. "You told me to go for it. And now that I finally have, you're just–"

"That was before I realized that this relationship is totally toxic," she spat, "I guarantee, whatever you think about you and Paul is not even going to last a month. And then you'll come crying to me again!"

"Anybody want some cookies?" Leaf asked desperately, holding out a tray of said delectable goodies, attempting to make the atmosphere light-hearted.

The argument was far too heated, however. "I know what I'm getting into, May. We like each other a lot."

May rolled her eyes before she approached her locker. "Forget it. I don't know why I'm wasting my time here," she said, grabbing her books before slamming the door shut, slightly making the blunette flinch. "Do whatever you want!"

Dawn scowled, the irritation getting the best of her. She wished she had understood how happy she was with Paul. "FINE!"

"FINE!" May exclaimed before walking past the group.

Paul was processing what had just happened, before looking at Dawn, who looked like a swirl of emotions was attacking her. He attempted to reach out to her before she turned away, walking towards the other direction.

Leaf could hardly believe this was happening; she had never witnessed her two best friends arguing in this manner. She bit her lip, before looking at Paul, who was about to walk away as well. "Wait! Paul!" He stopped and then turned around to look at the brunette curiously. Leaf sighed before speaking, "Maybe you should go talk to May."

Paul blinked, looking at her in disbelief. May had just downright insulted him and Leaf wanted him to go and reason with her? "Why would I do that?"

"Because," Leaf said before sighing again, "If there's anyone that can fix this, it's you. May doesn't believe that you make Dawn happy, so maybe instead of Dawn trying to convince her, you can."

Paul didn't really care about May's opinion on their relationship. But he could tell that May obviously meant a lot to Dawn. Plus seeing Dawn upset didn't exactly put a good feeling in his stomach. He sighed, wanting to get over this as soon as possible. "Fine. I'll talk to her," he said, just before the bell rang.

Leaf smiled in satisfaction. She was glad he was at least trying to make an effort. She could tell Dawn meant a lot to him. "Wow, that took little effort. You really care about Dawn, don't you?"

He closed his eyes and huffed, muttering incoherently under his breath, "You have no idea," he said before he walked away.


12:35 p.m.

Dawn was currently working on a worksheet in her English class. The class was silent, save for the occasional murmuring among the students and the teacher going around the classroom for assistance. Dawn couldn't really concentrate, however. Her mind kept drifting to the heated argument between her and May earlier this morning.

She set her pen down, sighing to herself, before placing her elbow on the desk and resting her palm on her cheek. At least this week was the last week of school before winter break. Ever since she was a toddler, she'd look forward to the season and Christmas holidays. She'd always take the initiative to decorate the Christmas tree herself. There was just something about winter itself, the festivities, snow and the atmosphere that always put a smile on her face.

She was hoping to spend time with both her friends and Paul in the winter, since Mr. Rowan allowed their employees to take a month off to spend time with their families. But now, she wasn't sure if that was possible, especially since May was so obstinate that she couldn't even try to understand Dawn.

She suddenly broke out of her thoughts when someone beside her spoke, "My, my, looks like Dawn might need some help with her worksheet," Conway said, as he glanced at her paper on the desk.

Dawn glanced at him before saying, "Yeah, I'm just…not in the mood right now." She confessed.

Conway shook his head in disapproval at the blunette. "This is graded, Dawn. You don't want to get a bad grade, do you?"

She bit her lip in reply, before a smirk formed on her lips. "Well, that's why you're here, right?" She said before handing her worksheet towards him. "You can fill out the rest of the answers for me," she suggested, with a playful tone, not entirely being serious. To her surprise, he didn't hesitate to retrieve the paper and started filling out the answers. Her lips parted in surprise. "Conway, I was only kidding, you don't have to –"

"But I want to," he quickly interjected, before he subtly directed towards the teacher behind him, "And don't make a scene, Mr. Brandon's watching." He warned. Dawn looked back, glancing at their teacher, who was circling around the classroom before looking back at Conway. "Besides, I can't have you too stressed out. Then I'm the one stressed out as well."

Dawn raised an eyebrow and whispered. "You could tell?" Conway nodded in response before he adjusted his glasses. She sighed to herself. "I just had a big argument with my friend because I kept my relationship with me and Paul a secret from her. And now she found out and she's pissed at me." Conway nodded in understanding before he cleared his throat. "I didn't exactly want to keep it a secret. It's just she's never liked Paul and thinks he's always going to hurt me, but she doesn't know Paul the way I do."

Conway handed her back the worksheet, which had now been completed. Dawn thanked him in response before she hesitatingly asked, "Do you think…?" She stopped, unable to finish her train of thought.

He looked at her in awe, as if he knew exactly what she was thinking. "What matters is you think. Don't let anyone ever convince you otherwise. It's your choice and your friend should understand that," he said before adding, "It's precisely the same reason why I let you decide to establish a relationship with Paul, because I predicted you'd be happier with him instead of me."

Dawn smiled at his words of wisdom. She was no longer going to let other people make decisions for her, no matter how guilty she felt. "Thanks, Conway, you're right. You've done a lot for me, so I appreciate it."

He grinned. "But of course, anything for you, Dawn. If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask."


2:32 p.m.

It was safe to say that, after a whole weekend of blatantly ignoring her best friend and the way she spoke to Dawn this morning, she felt like a bitch. It felt so alien to not at least look at her, and they even lived in the same room. In her defence, though, all she wanted was for Dawn to be with someone that cared for her more than she did.

Ms. Cindy spoke, breaking her chain of thoughts. May forgot she was in her drama class. "Okay class, since it's our last week of school, there's basically no restrictions to our class activities. So, what would you guys like to do? I was thinking we'd watch a movie. Sound good, everyone?"

There were various nods of agreements from students around the class. May honestly didn't mind this; maybe watching a mindless movie would divert her mind a bit.

"So, are there any movie suggestions?"

There were several murmurs from the students until someone said, "Let's watch Titanic! It's a classic," a girl said excitedly.

"No way!" Barry retorted, "No one wants to watch a sappy love story! This is worse than Romeo and Juliet!" he exclaimed, crossing his arms in the process. "I say we watch Star Wars," he suggested.

"Ugh," the girl groaned, rolling her eyes. "That's so typical of you, Barry."

Barry was about to retort when Ms. Cindy intervened. "It's okay, you two. Let's take a vote. All those who want to watch Titanic, raise your hand." A few students raised their hands. "And those who prefer Star Wars…" She said, trailing off as she noticed majority of the students raising their hands. "Okay. Star Wars it is then," she said, before reaching out to log into the computer at the desk.

The girl pouted and crossed her arms. "No fair."

Barry grinned victoriously. "Jealous," he said in a sing-song voice.

While the lights were being dimmed and the projector was being set up, May noticed Drew standing up from his seat a few chairs behind her and take a vacant one next to her. She smiled when he took out a red rose seemingly out of nowhere and presented it to her, making her smile widen before she took the flower and held it in her fingers.

After a few minutes, the movie started playing and almost immediately, most of the students were fascinated and poured their souls onto the screen. May tried her best to concentrate on the movie, but her mind kept drifting. Plus, she had seen these movies a bunch of times; it wasn't as if she was missing anything important. She even recalled a few years back when she tried to convince Dawn to watch one of these movies with her, but she wasn't a fan.

The brunette slightly groaned to herself.

Drew raised a curious eyebrow when he heard her and noticed she wasn't paying attention to the screen above them. "You alright?"

She glanced at him and bit her lip. "Yeah," she said absentmindedly. When he developed a dubious look, she sighed in defeat. "No," she whispered, trying to keep her voice low so her classmates wouldn't be bothered. "Did you know about Paul and Dawn?"

Drew blinked. "Yeah. I could tell Paul's really happy with her. The other day, he mentioned how he was nervous going on his first date with her."

May frowned. "Dawn kept her relationship with him a secret from me. And I kinda gave her a hard time. I basically didn't talk to her all weekend."

He scrunched his eyebrows in confusion, not expecting that. "Why would you do that?"

"Because," she said exasperatingly, "Not only did she keep her first relationship a secret from me, but she also chose Paul, of all people. I swear–"

"What's wrong with Paul?" Drew countered.

May looked at him in disbelief. "What's wrong with Paul? Drew, you know how much in these past two months, he kept hurting her and treating her like shit. And now suddenly, he decides he likes her? What kind of –"

Drew intervened. "Look, yeah, he hurt her. And even I didn't like it. But I've seen the way he talks about her. He's happy with her and so is Dawn." May scoffed, crossing her arms and rolled her eyes. "You don't know Paul. He can be a cool guy. He just takes time to open up to people. Maybe you should stop focusing on the past and accept that they're happy together.

May parted her lips in surprise at what he just uttered. She remained silent, as his words constantly replayed in the back of her mind. 'Maybe you should stop focusing on the past'. She looked at him again and muttered, "Maybe you're right."

Drew looked surprised and was taken aback at how little convincing it took for her to agree with him. "I am?" May raised an eyebrow. "I mean," he coughed, "Yeah, of course I am," he boasted proudly as May laughed slightly, shaking her head in response.

Her constant dwelling in the past had almost always led to trouble for May and she would be afraid of opening up; so much that it had traumatized her. She knew exactly why she was giving Dawn a difficult time. And perhaps Drew was right; she knew very little when it came to Paul. Maybe it was time she considered giving him a chance.


2:50 p.m.

Paul was in the hallways just as he heard the bell ring, signalling for the next period. He closed his locker before he noticed multiple students dispatching from their classrooms. Just then, he spotted a familiar light brown head of hair before sighing to himself, wondering what it would take to get the brunette to stop fighting with his girlfriend and make amends with her.

He noticed her walking with Drew as he approached them, causing them to stop effectively. The two looked at him curiously. "We need to talk," he said, directing his eyes on the brunette.

Before she could respond, Drew had taken the initiative and said, "I'd stay too, but I have a class coming up. Plus I have basketball practice again," he spat, as if the words he uttered were poison. "Anyways, see you guys later," he said, before placing a kiss on May's cheek. A smile graced her lips before Drew looked at Paul and snickered. "I'd give you one too, Paul…but–"

"Very funny." He rolled his eyes. Drew laughed as he patted his shoulder and walked away from the two.

Paul directed his attention back towards May again. "Look, I'm only going to say this once. I don't like you and you don't like me. But I'd appreciate it if you stopped arguing with Dawn and making her so tense. I've called her about five times today just to see if she was doing alright."

May's blue eyes softened. She also noted that he seemed very concerned about her. "Is she doing alright, though? What did she say?"

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He first assumed she was going to be obstinate and retort, but she was doing the exact opposite. "She's fine…just in class right now," he said, suspicion hinted in the tone of his voice.

May looked relieved. "Okay. Thanks. And I'm sorry. I realized that I was wrong. I don't know you all that well and well, I don't like anyone hurting Dawn. But If Dawn is happy with you, then that's all that really matters."

Paul was surprised at how little effort it took, which was seemingly odd, but he didn't question it. If anything, he was more grateful knowing that he didn't have to suffer through pointless arguments with her. He nodded before clearing his throat. "So, are you going to apologize?"

May pursed her lips in confusion. "I did already."

"Not to me," he said. "To Dawn," he clarified.

May formed an 'o' with her lips, the thought of apologizing to Dawn completely slipping her mind. "Oh yeah. I will when I get the chance. Also, I know I may seem like a crazy psychopath, but all I want is for Dawn to not get hurt…" she explained, trailing off.

Paul nodded in understanding. At least the two agreed on one thing. He could see why she reacted the way she did this morning. "Likewise."


3:35 p.m.

Dawn and Leaf both exited out of their last class for the day with looks of relief plastered on their faces. Leaf looked at Dawn excitedly and grinned. "I'm so glad today's over. Only four more days and we're on Christmas break!"

Dawn matched her grin with hers. "I know right. A whole month of freedom. And most of all, no more math and calculus, ugh," she said, making a face of disgust.

Leaf giggled and bumped her hip against Dawn's. "But that means you don't have your hunk of a boyfriend to tutor you since you managed to get an A in the class," she teased, waggling her eyebrows as she teased her.

Dawn rolled her eyes, a playful smile on her lips. "That doesn't mean we still can't do stuff together."

"Like what?"

Dawn shrugged. "I don't know, but I was thinking of inviting everyone over to May's place for a Christmas party or something." Leaf nodded in response before Dawn added, "Oh! We could play Secret Santa! We haven't done that in years."

Leaf nodded, reminiscing over the memories of that when they were younger. It had always been one of their favourite activities. "Oh yeah, that sounds fun."

But then Dawn frowned, remembering that she and May weren't exactly on good terms anymore. "Actually, never mind. Without May, it would just feel like something's missing."

Leaf straightened her lips into a thin line. She wondered if Paul had taken her advice and spoken to May. She didn't like seeing her friend extremely dull and out of life. She was about to speak when a familiar voice spoke, allowing the two girls to look behind them.

"It won't feel like something's missing at all," May said, before approaching the two. "I agree with the idea, let's invite everyone and have a good time." Dawn remained silent, slightly wondering why she was pretending as if the fight this morning had never happened. Her blue eyes gazed towards the floor instead.

May noticed her unfamiliar demeanour. "I know. I deserve the silent treatment. I deserve practically the worst of the worst for treating you like shit this weekend and this morning; which, now that I think about it, is kinda ironic since the whole point I was mad at you was because I thought your boyfriend treated you like shit…" Dawn noticed her rambling and looked up at her, raising an eyebrow. "Okay, I'm getting side-tracked. The point is that I'm sorry. I just didn't want anyone to hurt you. I love you like my sister, Dawn, and I just want you to be happy."

Leaf's smile slowly widened in realization of how genuine she was being. Dawn's eyes softened before she said, "I am happy, May. Paul has done nothing except make me happy these past few days and I know that he won't hurt me anymore. That was in the past."

May nodded. When she talked to him earlier, she could tell he cared about her a lot. It was as if he was a new person. "I know. I think I was just so focused on the past that I never cared about how he'd treat you now," she said, before exhaling hardly and adding, "And also…I didn't want what Brendan did to me… happen to you too. At least emotionally."

Dawn stared at her before she smiled. "Come on May, no need to worry! Nothing of that sort is going to happen, I promise. And," she added, "I'm sorry too."

May looked at her confusion. "For what?"

"For keeping this a secret from you," she elaborated.

May snorted. "Are you kidding? Even I would have done the same thing. I'm such a difficult and stubborn person."

Dawn shook her head in response. "No way, you're the most amazing and supportive friend that anyone could ever have."

Leaf narrowed her eyes. "Um, hello? What am I, chopped liver?" she scoffed jokingly.

The two girls laughed at that before Dawn said, "Both of you."

Leaf grinned and exclaimed, "Group hug!" The three girls then huddled together and engulfed each other tightly for a few seconds before they released. Leaf looked at May, "By the way, what exactly made you realize that you needed to apologize?"

May scratched the back of her hair sheepishly. "Oh. I talked to Drew and Paul earlier."

Leaf gasped and exclaimed excitedly, making the two girls slightly confused. "Yes! That means Paul took my advice!" The confusion didn't falter from either of their faces. "I told Paul to make him convince you that he's the right guy for Dawn. So really, you guys should be thanking me for breaking the argument," she boasted proudly, before the two girls rolled their eyes.

May looked at Dawn. "She's not wrong though. I could tell he cares for you more than me maybe, which is crazy."

Dawn laughed, biting her lip. "Yeah," she said just before her cell phone rang. She took it out from her pocket and placed it near her ear after she answered. "Hello?" There was a considerable amount of chattering that could be heard from the other end of the line, keeping the girls curious. "Now? But it's not even Friday." Dawn sighed before saying, "Okay. I'll be there in an hour," she said before hanging up.

"What's wrong?" Leaf asked.

"I got called into work. One of my co-workers called in sick so they need someone to be in right now." Dawn explained.

"Damn it and I just thought we could all have a sleepover tonight," May complained. "The three of us," she added.

Dawn waved her a hand of dismissal. "No need to worry. It's only a three-hour shift so I won't be that long and then we can all hang out."

Both of them nodded in response. "Okay, that sounds good to me," May said. "Looking forward to whooping both of you in a game of charades," she smirked.

Dawn rolled her eyes. "Fine but at least drive me to work."

May laughed. "Of course!"


Chancey Fancy; 5:03 p.m.

Dawn was currently cleaning up one of the tables with a slightly repulsive look on her face. One of the customers' kids had puked and as a result, it left a horrible stench in the restaurant. Not to mention, even looking at the contents made her want to throw up as well.

What a great way to start off my shift, Dawn thought bitterly.

Serena was serving a customer before she noticed Dawn disposing of the used cloth, as she cringed to herself. She walked towards her. "Hey, sorry you were called into work today. Lillie has pneumonia. So she's practically feeling like crap right now."

Dawn raised an eyebrow and parted her lips in surprise. "Oh, wow. I hope she feels better soon."

Serena waved her a reassuring hand. "Oh yeah, she'll be fine eventually. After work I'm gonna go over and see if she needs anything. Her mom doesn't really take care of her."

The blunette stopped, scrunching her eyebrows in confusion. "What?" she asked in disbelief.

Serena nodded, confirming her confusion. "Yeah. She doesn't care about her at all. Lillie keeps telling me about how her mom keeps telling that she's a huge disappointment because Lillie doesn't wanna follow in her footsteps. But she has her brother to take care of her, though."

Dawn tried to process all the information she received and blinked in response. "What kind of parent is she? I know if I was ever a mother, I'd support my kids in whatever they'd want to do."

Serena nodded. "Yeah, same. Such a bitch." Dawn laughed in response. "Anyways, Mr. Rowan assigned me to clean the restrooms, so I gotta go do that," she said, rolling her eyes.

Dawn groaned. Cleaning the restrooms had to be the worst. It always had a disgusting stench. "Good luck."

"Yeah, I'm gonna need it," Serena said before walking away.

Dawn noticed the restaurant was empty, so she sighed and decided to text Paul and ask him if he could pick her up after work. When he responded with a positive answer, she placed her phone back in her pocket and decided to clean up the rest of the tables. Halfway into cleaning, she heard a bell ring as a customer entered the restaurant.

She stopped cleaning and got prepared with her palm-sized notebook before walking towards the guy. And when she finally got close and noticed him sitting down, she froze. She was now hesitating and tried to look anywhere other than where he was sitting.

Unfortunately, he looked towards her, slightly making Dawn flinch, before calling out to her. "Um excuse me? I'd like to be served here!" He exclaimed, gesturing his arm in the air.

Dawn straightened her lips into a thin line. Maybe he didn't recognize her, which made sense, since it had been years since she saw him. She walked towards his table. "Hi, I'll be your server tonight. What can I get you?" she asked, clicking her pen.

He glanced at the menu in his hands before he looked at her and said, "Yeah, let me get…" he stopped, suddenly. Dawn looked at him, wondering why he stopped. He narrowed his eyes. "Don't I know you from somewhere?"

Dawn remained silent, deliberately avoiding his question. She tried to change the topic. "So, what'll it be?"

Brendan snapped his fingers for emphasis when he saw her name-tag. "Oh, that's right, you're Dawn. I remember you when you used to visit May back in Hoenn."

Dawn didn't like that he sounded thrilled when he said that. "Yeah, what of it?"

Brendan shrugged. "Well, now I finally got a chance. Since you're friends with May, maybe you can talk to her for me and convince her that we should get back together."

Dawn looked at him with disgust and in disbelief. "Are you serious? May's already gotten over you and she's already in a relationship. Plus, you talked to her yourself and even then, you didn't convince her. Why can't you just accept the fact that she's moved on and move on yourself?"

"Was what I did really that bad? Man, you guys make it sound like a crime."

Dawn closed her notebook and threw it somewhere carelessly. "It is a crime! Sexual assault is a crime and you're so lucky that you're not in jail."

He rolled his eyes. "For fucks sake, how many times do I have to say it? I was drunk that night. I didn't mean to do it!"

She narrowed her eyes. "That doesn't excuse your behaviour. Because of you, May was traumatized for months."

Brendan formed a fist and slammed the table in front of him, making Dawn slightly jump in her feet. He ran his fingers through his hair. "Why do you think I'm here for this past month? I've just been wanting to get her back, that's all."

Dawn's eyes softened for a second or two before she recomposed herself. "You shouldn't be that obsessed over May. You had your chance, but you lost it. So, I suggest you accept the fact that May's happy with someone else and go back to Hoenn," she said before adding, "Plus you never know, you might find someone else."

Brendan stood up suddenly, as Dawn's eyes widened with fear. "I don't want someone else, I just want her!" He yelled abruptly.

Dawn was too scared to move. Before she could do something, a powerful voice was heard behind her. "What's going on around here?" Mr. Rowan spoke. "Is there a problem, Dawn?"

Dawn looked back towards him and shook her head. "No," she said, her voice soft. Dawn glanced at Brandan, who then turned his back towards her and walked out of the restaurant. She blew a breath of relief before turning back towards her boss. "I'll just get back to work," she told him before she started cleaning the tables again.


8:08 p.m.

Three hours had passed, with a seemingly slower shift than usual. Dawn supposed the reason for that was because business was relatively slower on weekdays than weekends. The one thing she was relieved about was the fact that there was no sign of Brendan again.

While she was at the counter, Mr. Rowan approached her with keys in his hand. "I'd like for you to close up the restaurant tonight. Serena and Brock just left, and I have to leave soon as well."

Dawn nodded before he handed her the keys. "Okay. No need to worry."

He nodded. "Just be careful," he said, a gruff tone in his voice. Dawn nodded in response before he collected his belongings and walked out.

Dawn made sure to message Paul that she was done with work before she placed her phone in her purse. She ensured to take her belongings with her before exiting the restaurant and closing the door behind her. Once she inserted the key into the opening and turned it, hearing the 'click' sound, she smiled satisfactorily before turning around, gasping harshly before realizing Brendan was a few feet away from her.

Dawn gulped, her chest heaving in the process. She noticed he was walking sloppily towards her. "Stay away from me!" She warned, raising a finger, before she reached into her purse.

He stopped walking. "You know, you were right," he said, his voice sounding sloppy as well. Even though he was a few feet apart from her, Dawn could tell he had been drinking due to the smell of alcohol. "I should get over May. I've been soooooo caught up trying to get her back when there are other hot girls around."

That was when he started to eye her up and down and his eyes darkened. "Wow, I've been blind. You knowwwww, you're kinda cute. What do you say we get out of here and we can have some real fun?"

Dawn was disgusted and backed away. "I said stay away from me, I mean it!"

He smirked in response. "Aw how cute," he said before walking towards her. When he didn't look, Dawn quickly took out an item from her purse and sprayed it furiously in his eyes. Brendan yelled loudly in pain and stepped back, rubbing his eyes, which had turned extremely red. "The fuck? You little bit–" he said before attempting to attack her.

Dawn screamed and tried to block his reach by raising her palms in the air and looking away. But when nothing happened, she looked back and slightly gasped when she noticed Paul throwing a rock at the back of his head. She gasped when he fell to his knees and groaned before falling flat on his stomach, unconscious.

Paul looked at Dawn worriedly when she started to hyperventilate, her chest heaving again. She felt her face grow warm and her vision being blurred. He widened his eyes and approached her, immediately pulling her to his chest, attempting to relax and comfort her. "Calm down, no need to worry."

She managed to regulate her breathing and tightened her hold around him. Her eyes clenched shut before tears started running down her cheeks, probably wetting his shirt. He pulled back to look at her, noticing she was crying. He touched her shoulders. "Come on Dawn, please stop crying, I hate when you cry."

She still let out a few more tears. "But if-if you hadn't been here, then –"

Paul stopped her as he intervened. "Nothing. Nothing would have happened," he said before glancing at Brendan on the floor. "I've had enough of this," he said before taking out his cell phone and placing it towards his right ear.

Dawn looked at him curiously after she wiped her tears away. "What are you doing?"

"Calling the police."


When May had opened the door to reveal both Paul and Dawn, she grinned excitedly to see the both of them, but slowly turned into a frown when she realized Dawn was wearing a frown on her face. "What's wrong? Dawn, I told you that I was sorry, do I really need to apologize again?"

Dawn shook her head before she reached out and hugged her brunette friend tightly. May was confused but returned the hug, before she looked at Paul in front of the two. When they released, she looked at Dawn curiously when she looked like she was extremely scared. "Dawn, what happened? Can anyone tell me what happened?"

"Your ex was at Dawn's workplace and tried to attack her," Paul explained.

May gasped. "What?! Brendan was there?!" She looked at Dawn worriedly before she nodded. "What did he do? He didn't hurt you, right?"

She shook her head. "No, before he could do anything, Paul beat him with a rock and he went unconscious."

May looked at Paul with the most immense amount of gratitude. It reminded her of when Dawn told her he had saved her from an accident. She glanced at Dawn. "I'm so glad you're safe," she said, before biting her lip worriedly. "But that piece of shit Brendan is still out there. Why can't he just go away?"

"Well…you don't have to worry about him anymore," Dawn said, vaguely as May raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Paul called the cops and after we showed him the security footage from the restaurant, they arrested him."

May parted her lips in surprise. "Really?" she asked in disbelief. "But his dad is a lawyer! That's why I couldn't get him arrested before."

"Yeah, but that time you didn't have any proof," Dawn countered before smiling. "The security footage caught everything that happened outside of the restaurant. Not even his father could get him out of jail."

May closed her eyes, finally in contentment and relief. Dawn smiled before May opened her eyes. She looked at Paul before saying, "Thank you so much. Who knows what would have happened if you hadn't been there?"

Paul smiled before he looked at Dawn, internally glad that she was safe. "No problem," he said before looking at the two. "I have to leave though."

A disappointed look washed over Dawn's features before she sighed and nodded in understanding. She walked out, before closing the door behind her and facing Paul. She smiled before saying, "Thank you for saving my life…again." She laughed.

Paul chuckled in response. "Yeah. I guess I've always been your saviour."

Dawn nodded in response before he stepped closer towards her, her eyes drooping close when he kissed her. His lips felt warm and caused her stomach to soar with butterflies as he caressed her right cheek. After a few seconds, the two released, and she blinked before he brushed a few of her bangs away.

He looked at her before whispering, "Goodnight."

She grinned before she kissed him again, although this time it was only a peck. "Goodnight, sugar plum." He smirked in response before he turned around and walked away.

Dawn opened the door, the smile not faltering from her features before she saw May yet again, slightly forgetting she was here. "What?"

"So, the nicknames still haven't changed? Sugar plum? Really?" she teased.

Dawn blushed, trying to hide her cheeks with her hair and walked away from her. "Whatever."

May laughed in response. She was glad that Paul had made her extremely happy; she had been wrong about him all this while and she was glad she gave him a chance.

Whenever he was around, she could be assured that there was no need to worry.


Okay so judging from a few reviewers last chapter, you guys didn't like Brendan in the last chapter and the way he was acting. And I understand, but because I've already established how his character is, it really doesn't seem viable to redeem himself in my opinion. (Plus I never liked Brendan anyway, but that's not important). I feel like him being obsessed with May is pretty realistic, compared to the real world where people actually do this. Yeah I'm not joking, this stuff happens in real life.

Anyways be sure to leave a review below. We are kind of close to the ending sadly, but hey at least I know for sure it'll end on a good note xD Thanks so much for reading and see you next time :D