Hey everyone! This is my first fic for Pokemon but I've loved contestshipping for years and I've had this idea on the back burner for a while… so here we are! A high school AU (Pokemon still present) and lots of fluff!

The picture is not mine! I tried to find the original artist who made it but couldn't, so if anyone knows who it is please let me know so I can give them full credit! Also, I'm gonna use the fanon full names- May Maple and Drew Hayden. Hope you don't mind ;)

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon or May or Drew.

This is for the ship that got me into fanfiction.

Enjoy!

The air was cold. Not painful, like it would be in late January, but peaceful. The temperature was low enough to keep the snow on the ground and the ice types happy. May supposed that's why she left in the first place- Glaceon insisted on going to the park to prance around. And she wasn't about to tell her Pokemon no. Not after the hectic week she'd had at school.

So she was out, sitting on the snow-covered grass, bundled up in winter clothes, watching Glaceon hop around the bushes and flowerbeds. She bent her knees and folded her arms over them, thinking about winter break. Her college acceptance letter should have arrived earlier in the week, but there was a delay. Being the daughter of a gym leader had to have given her some sort of boost in the process, right? Even if she was ordinary and not entirely confident?

Even though she was salutatorian, that didn't make it a guarantee she'd get into the university she wanted. She thought about the online applications she'd submitted, the countless scholarships she'd applied for without telling anyone. The transcripts, the recommendation letters, the essays-

"Hey," a voice cut through her thoughts. May blinked and looked up at the figure suddenly standing over her. Drew Hayden was staring back, his thick winter coat wrapped around him, Absol loyally at his side. A smile pulled his lips up. "What're you doing?"

May shook her head, warmth threatening to flood her ears. Locks of hair were hanging in his face in that determined way they did. She looked away, trying to ignore it. "I'm just… um." She gestured weakly to Glaceon. "She wanted to get out. You know, enjoy the snow."

Drew followed her eyes. "Ah, I see." Masquerain flew into May's view and landed in front of her. He chirped intently, as if asking for something.

"Masquerain!" Drew chastised. He put his hands on his hips in offense, his mouth hanging open. "May can't just let Beautifly out- you know that."

"What?" May looked between the two, confused. She breathed the cold air in and out for a second, then it clicked. "Oh- it's fine." She took a Pokeball out and held it in her gloved hand. "Why not- for old time's sake, right?" she smiled up at Drew, tossing the ball into the air.

Beautifly popped out and greeted Masquerain with ecstatic noises. They flew up higher into the air, soon moving to join Glaceon farther away.

Drew shook his head at them, then gestured next to May. "Can I sit?"

She nodded. He plopped himself down, Absol taking the chance to wander off to the side and lay in the snow. May sighed, burying her head in her knees that were so close to her chest. "Is it wrong… I don't wanna go back?"

Drew raised an eyebrow. "Wow. Midterms beat you up that much last week?"

May groaned. "No. I just… really needed this break. And I don't know if it'll be long enough."

He gave a slight frown, thinking of their past month of school. It had been a nightmare with Calculus and Economics. Midterms had been brutal, even though they'd hoped the teachers would go easy on them for senior year. Nothing could have been more opposite than a combined poster and essay project for Classic Literature. "Yeah…" Drew leaned back and folded his arms under his head. The smell of ice and pine drifted through the air, dominating all other scents in the park. "They never seem to give us enough time to recover, do they?"

May gave another unenthusiastic sigh and joined him in lying down. "No… not even for the top two students."

"Right." He gave a laugh. "We're supposed to be role models. Kinda hard when they don't give us reasons to be happy."

May stared up at the falling snow and smiled. "We all would've dropped out by now if we didn't have each other… Even if our friends aren't as focused as we are."

This earned another laugh from Drew. "Yeah. It's kinda strange- they weren't like that at the beginning. It's like the more classes we took, the more distracted they became." He shook his head in disappointment. "As if growing up is ever a reason to stop caring."

Drew's last comment hit May in a way she wasn't expecting, stirring a memory in her brain. "You know," she said. "When I first met you, I hated you."

Drew scrunched his eyebrows, taking a breath to soak in the comment. Then his lips betrayed him with a smile. "What?"

"Yeah." Freshman year was suddenly consuming May's memories. "You were a jerk."

He stared up into the sky with her. "That's… fair. And true. I'll fully admit, I was awful to you."

"And full of yourself."

"Narcissistic."

"A royal pain in the butt."

"But, then… I learned my lesson, grew up, and turned out decent."

"Decent is one way of putting it." He elbowed her. "Ow- okay. Fair." She followed Beautifly and Masquerain with her eyes. "But you're not all to blame. I wasn't nice back to you."

"No, but I definitely deserved that."

"Yes, you did, but… I should have handled it better." She folded her fingers together, recalling all the times she yelled at him in the halls and classrooms. "Maybe we would have been friends faster."

Drew scratched his head. "Yeah…" He swiped his hair out of his eyes. "But we got there eventually, right?"

May made a small sound of confirmation, nodding her head even though she was sure he wasn't looking.

He pressed his lips into a line, letting comfortable silence drag for a minute. Then a thought pressed into his mind, and curiosity drew him in. Like it always did when it came to her. "What were you thinking about? Before I got here?"

May stilled. The question caught her off guard. Not the content of it, necessarily, but the way he said it. Genuinely, with care and interest. Something she rarely got from his sarcastic personality. "I…" She tried to ignore the bundle of nerves condensing in her stomach. The subject was so important to her, it made her palms sweat in the winter weather. "...I applied for the Wallace scholarship."

"What?!" Drew sat up on his elbows and gaped at her. Her face was set, staring at their pokemon. She was serious. "May, that's- that's great! I'm sure you'll get it."

"I don't know, Drew…" She covered her face with her hands. "I just- I'm not sure why I bothered."

"Because you're smart and talented and have what it takes." She looked over at him with skeptical eyes. "I'm serious, May. I didn't compete with you my entire high school career for nothing."

"I know, but… There are so many people out there like us. What are the chances I'm different?"

"C'mon, May." Drew fully sat up and crossed his legs underneath him, creating rough patches in the snow. "Listen to yourself. If you really didn't think you had a chance, then why would you have applied? Hm?" He raised an eyebrow, knowing she couldn't dispute him.

She stared back, scanning his face. Despite being a hassle, Drew was able to read her in an almost uncanny way. She often wondered if he had ever asked Max to spill her life story (which would honestly explain a lot of things about their relationship- and she wouldn't hold it against her brother to blab everything). "How do you know me so well?"

"Because you're my friend." He flung snow at her. "And that's what friends do."

May frowned at the snow and tried to swat it off, only to fail and have it get caught in her scarf. She groaned and sat up, grabbing a fist full of the white powder and throwing it in Drew's face. "You're right." She watched him wipe his skin with his hands. "Like you always are."

He laughed at the comment and grabbed more snow, throwing it back. "That is a lie, and you know it."

May scoffed in an exaggerated way, reaching down and crafting a snowball. "No, it's not." She threw it at his chest and laughed as it exploded over his jacket.

He pretended to be offended and made his own snowball, aiming at her. "Yes, it is. And I- wait!"

She tackled him before he could throw it. He flew backward and landed in the snow with a soft thud. She had his shoulders pinned to the ground with her hands, preventing him from carrying out more attacks. She flashed him a victorious grin. "Gotcha."

"May, get off-"

"Nope. Not until you admit that I'm telling the truth- you're always right."

"Oh, my g- I am not." He wiggled his shoulders in a failed attempt to loosen her grip. "I've been wrong plenty of times in my life."

"Yeah?" May wasted no time raising her eyebrows at him. "Name one, Mr. Valedictorian."

Drew knew it was useless. May was stubborn about everything. She'd keep him pinned down in the snow if it meant getting hypothermia. "I- you know what? Fine." He gave in and met her eyes, refusing to look away. "You."

May's confidence quickly wavered as the word sank in. "Um… Excuse me?"

"Yeah. You. I was wrong about you. Now, will you get off." He shoved her next to him, Absol lifting his head to stare at the movement. Drew stood up and dusted the snow off his clothes as best he could, ignoring May's gaping mouth and surprised stature. "There- are you happy now?"

"I…" May lay frozen on her back, now staring up at their pokemon in bewilderment instead of seriousness. "I'm confused."

"Gosh, May. I just told you that you were smart. Don't make me revoke the compliment."

"But I really am confused." She recovered from her initial shock and stood in front of him, not bothering to fix the snow smashed into the hood of her jacket. "What exactly do you mean, you were 'wrong about me'?"

He rolled his eyes. "Really, May?"

"Drew, you can't drop that and not explain." She poked him in the chest. "Talk."

He gave a small laugh and moved her hand out of the way. "Well, if I have to spell it out for you: when we met. You said it yourself. You hated me. And I was awful to you because I thought you were just gonna be another annoying honors student that would ask me a million questions about our school district and try to become my friend because I was the smartest kid in class. But I was wrong.

"You were strong and independent and excelled and before I knew it we were competing for the top spot and for the first time in my life I had a challenge that made me feel like I had a purpose." He took a breath, trying not to read into her face until he was done talking.

"Then we started hanging out. I should have seen it coming- having the same classes and extracurriculars… it was only natural we became friends.

"And I didn't want to at first. Nope. I wanted to hate you for coming in and threatening my ranking. But you know what? I was wrong.

"I did want a friend. And you're the only one it could have been. You went through the same stress as I did and understood what I was going through where no one else had before. You understood me. And now… you're one of the most important people in my life." He stopped, taking a beat to let it soak in. His breath created a small cloud between them.

May stared at him, shocked. She wanted to counter with some snarky comment. Anything to fill the silence. But only the sound of their pokemon and the distant park occupants passed through their ears.

Drew ran his hands through his hair after a minute. "So… you're wrong. And so was I. And… I'm sorry if dumping all this on you is too much." He looked at her, concern suddenly striking his heart. She hadn't responded, and he had a terrible feeling that what he just said completely ruined their relationship.

Then May did something he wasn't expecting. She started laughing.

She looked up at the sky and let out a good, hearty laugh he hadn't heard in weeks. She leaned her head into his chest and lightly pounded at him with her fists in a fit of laughter.

Drew blinked, trying his best to ignore the numbness spreading down his arms and rendering his hands useless. "Um… okay, now I'm the confused one."

"Oh, Drew," she cackled. "Is that all?"

"I…" He quirked an eyebrow. "Did I miss something? You know it's rude to laugh at people after they tell you how important you are to them."

May wiped tears from her eyes, grinning. "Dude, relax." She stared at him, her face bright in the cold atmosphere. His heart gave an odd jump. It didn't help the tingles in his arms. "I feel the same way, that's all."

Silence. Just them staring at each other. May with a wonderful grin on her face, Drew with a blank stare.

Then, Drew shook his head. "What?" Was she being serious?

"Well, duh." She took in his confused face, the way his eyebrows were knit together, how his lips pulled into a slight frown. She didn't feel any embarrassment thinking it was adorable. "Drew, why else would I have stuck around after you were mean to me? Yeah, I was new here, but I just… I don't know. Maybe I was too stubborn and got competitive, or maybe I had this feeling that, all along, you were a nice guy on the inside. But I wanted to stand my ground.

"You were extremely annoying, I won't sugar-coat anything-"

"Gee," Drew huffed. "Thanks for that, Maple."

"-But." She held up her hand to stop him from cutting her off again. "Like you said. It was inevitable we became friends. Once your shell of arrogance started to crack, I knew we'd be close. Even though you've kept the competition tight all these years, you helped me get through high school. You were the reason I was always motivated to push myself harder, to strive to be the best I could be.

"You beat me, in the end, but I don't really care. Not as much as I did in the beginning. Because now… we've been through so much together. Classes, academic meets, advanced testing, student council obligations… all of it. You've been there with me. And I'm just... so grateful. Hoenn U is gonna be lucky to have you.

"And I… I'm sorry I was ever a hassle to be around. It's just hard, sometimes. It feels like you're always right. Constantly. And, of course, I know you can be wrong… but you're not wrong about being my friend. And I know I feel the same way. You're important to me, too, Drew. Nothing will ever change that."

Drew blinked at her, a grin threatening to break onto his surface. "I…" He balled his hands into fists, trying to get feeling back into his fingers. "I'm glad. That we, um, feel the same way."

May nodded. "Yeah… we do." She paused for a moment, hesitant. Deciding in her mind whether saying her next words out loud was worth it.

Then she thought of all the years they'd known each other. How every time he flicked his hair or flashed a smile at her, her heart would speed up and thump loudly, then completely stop beating. And how in these recent months, being around him made her mind buzz and internal organs melt.

She took the chance.

"Except, I actually got feelings for you." She smiled softly at the ground as Drew looked at her. Her eyes were distant, as if thinking of an old, impossible memory. "I suppose that's the only difference between us."

And right there, standing together in the snow, the other park occupants and his pokemon a distant presence, everything clicked together for Drew Hayden.

The weird feelings he'd been getting around May in the past few months, the way his hands would go numb and his heart would beat faster. The sweaty palms and extra glances he would make her way. Why he always wanted to be around her, even though they were competing for academic ranks, and why she always made him feel so welcome and at home.

"Oh," was all his overloaded brain was able to get out. The longer he thought about it, the more it seemed a dense fog was being cleared in his mind. "Oh."

"Um…" May glanced around nervously. "'Oh'? This changes nothing, Drew, if that's what you're worried ab-"

"No! No, I…" He ran his hands through his hair, his eyes widening with his realization. "It's just that… It all makes sense." His face broke out into a grin, and he almost laughed. "How could I have missed it… Do you… um." He tried to gather himself- reel his mind into focus. "Do you remember when we hosted that contest at school? And they made us dress up and look really nice? And I felt weird the whole night and we thought it was just stress?"

"Uhh…" May knit her eyebrows together, not knowing where this was going. "Yeah? But-"

"And that time I wasn't paying attention in the hall and tripped down the stairs?"

May stared at him, concern taking over most of her expression, leaving just the tiniest bit of room for amusement. "Yes?"

"Well… I just…" Drew looked down at his hands, having an epiphany. May had never seen him like this; it was slightly frightening. "I never realized that… it's because of you. I thought I was stressed out when we had to host the contest because my palms were sweaty and I had this knot in my stomach… but it's because I was nervous around you. You walked in so confident and we'd never had to dress up for anything before and you just looked so… so…" He facepalmed himself. "Gosh, I don't even know the word, but I felt like I couldn't breathe but now I know why.

"And when I fell and almost broke my wrist- I wasn't paying attention because Dawn had asked you about liking someone and it distracted me. It always bothered me why I even cared. But I should have figured it out sooner.

"And just now, you…" He trailed off, pausing. May's ears had turned red halfway through his ramble. The color reminded him of the red bandana she insisted on wearing everyday freshman year.

He took in a breath of cold winter air and gathered himself. He reached out and took May's hands in his. "You're not alone," he breathed.

Beautiful silence hung in the air around them. All other people and Pokemon seemed to vanish from the park, leaving just their presence in the snow. May truly didn't know what to say. She'd never let herself imagine this moment- half of her believing it would never happen, the other half too busy with a million things to even bother thinking about it.

But now they were here. In freezing temperatures after a ridiculously hectic week of school. At the start of winter break, where maybe- just maybe- they could breathe and be themselves for five minutes.

She tightened her grip on Drew. His hands- they felt so right in hers. Like they were specially crafted to be placed alongside her palms and fingers.

She smiled softly at him, thinking about his realization and confession, and pulled him closer to her, kissing him. His lips were cold from the icy atmosphere. She was sure hers weren't much different. But neither of them cared.

She pulled away. "I'm glad I'm not alone."

Drew grinned, placing his forehead on hers. "You never have been."

"Mmmm." May sent him a mischievous smile. "But for someone who's supposed to be really smart, you sure are dumb."

"Thanks, Maple."

Something bumped May's leg. She looked down and found Glaceon staring up at her, making wining noises and opening her mouth wide.

May immediately knew what this meant. "Aww- are you hungry already?" Glaceon nodded. "Well then, we better get going." She turned back to Drew. "Have time for a hot chocolate stop?"

"With you? Of course. As long as you don't take all my food." She playfully punched his shoulder as he laughed. "Absol, Masquerain, come on. Time for lunch."

With Beautifly in tow, the Pokemon quickly joined their trainers, and May took Drew's hand and lead the party out of the park.

"So- still haven't gotten any acceptance letters yet, have you?"

"Drew, you really are such a pain…"

The next week, her acceptance letter to Hoenn University arrived in the mail.

The way Pokemon should have a spin-off anime where we can explore characters like Drew and possibly give us cannon couples out of the groups from past generations… ugh. That would be great.

Thanks for reading, everyone! I hope I did these characters justice so that you could enjoy this.

Don't forget to favorite and review :D

~Reader4ever1