A/N:
Sorry I couldn't get this up yesterday, unfortunately fanfic doesn't let me schedule my chapters ahead of time. Next week I won't be able to stick to my regular schedule, but I'll upload if I find the time.
Chapter 14
Gliding next to Brendan as they reached the Petalburg City sign, May felt her heart beat nervously in her chest. They were nearly home, Officer Jenny hadn't found them and they weren't being dragged home by the ear… yet.
Adjusting her position on her bike, May wished her ankle wasn't as sore as it was, or that she could have enjoyed their trip back that little bit more. If she'd heard the previous morning that Brendan wouldn't be letting her out of his sight, or that they'd be this attached, May would have laughed it off.
After all, they'd always been incredibly close, yet independent friends, even if May had always wanted to be something more than that.
If she hadn't gotten hurt, they wouldn't be here.
She sent Brendan an anxious glance only to see him mirror her anxiety, his hands clenched and ruby eyes flickering from one place to the next. Evidently, he'd also expected Officer Jenny to bring them home after lecturing them thoroughly, but, thankfully, she was nowhere to be seen.
Maybe Orlando hadn't rushed home all night like they'd assumed.
'What's the plan?' May asked, nervously fidgeting with her bandana, her injured foot lolling awkwardly off the handlebar. Being on Seaside Cycling Road always messed it up.
With how accident-prone May was, they'd been through this before. Not with their relationship, but with them disappearing off of a route, having to take a break to treat one or another of May's scraps and bruises. Usually their parents trusted them to come back in one piece, unless it was taking them a while, which this trip home had.
Every time disaster had struck May whilst she was with both the Birch brothers, without fail, Orlando had called both sets of parents and they'd group together in May's home in Petalburg, waiting anxiously for their return.
Glancing at Brendan, May pressed her lips together. What were they going to say to their parents?
Normally they took turns for who took the blame, even though it almost always was May's fault.
May could already picture it: hey mum, dad, not to worry you or anything, but in an attempt to win a stupid bet against Brendan I fell off of a steep cliff at Mount Chimney. Don't worry, I'm perfectly fine, just banged up. Don't worry, I was lucky, it could have been much, much worse.
She almost shuddered at the thought of how they'd react to that news. She'd be carted off to the hospital to ensure everything was actually fine and then confined at home helping out the gym, yanked away from exploring Hoenn with Brendan.
She wasn't ready for that.
'The plan? I believe it was your turn,' Brendan replied with a little too much confidence, arching an eyebrow at her, one foot resting on the ground, the other on the pedal of his bike.
Narrowing her eyes, May couldn't believe her ears. Given their situation, now wasn't the time to be talking about whose turn it was! She couldn't even walk, let alone ride a bicycle home without Brendan being nearby to assist her!
More importantly, the very nature of their relationship had changed, or so she'd thought!
Even now, she wanted him to hug her, hold her, touch her… anything.
She'd never craved this much attention from anyone before, and to hear him revert back to that… hurt.
Was he just going to revert back to whatever they'd had before? Hadn't he been the one who was adamant that nothing of the sort should happen?
Her hands shaking, May glared up at him, hissing, 'my turn?!'
In response, Brendan smiled a little too innocently as he eagerly nodded at her.
'And what about us?' May asked, glaring at Brendan. She couldn't believe her ears!
If Brendan Birch of all people so much as abandoned her now, she would make him regret it!
'Ah, well, that's all you!' Brendan grinned, patting her side shoulder a little too enthusiastically.
Wincing, May sent him a glare, not believing what she was hearing.
Taking in his nervous tapping on his handlebar, the awkward way he shifted his weight around the bike and his ruby eyes darting anywhere but at her, May felt her heart sink.
She'd seen him act like that time and time again, specifically when they'd really screwed up. No, Brendan was definitely panicking.
In fact, he was in full fight or flight mode, there was no doubt about it. The signs were all there, from his wide eyes, clenched jaw and tense body.
Her heart felt heavy as she wondered if he was really thinking of bailing on her now.
Feeling disappointment fill her, May turned to face the road that would take her home, her hand gripping the handlebar tightly, ignoring the pain she felt.
She didn't want him to see her crying, especially over him. If she was going to stay there, she'd definitely start crying.
Pressing her lips together, she could feel the sting of tears in her eyes. If she blinked, they'd spill over.
Just as she was about to limp-glide her bicycle down the road, she felt a hand on her shoulder, keeping her in place.
'May, I was joking. It was bad timing, I know, but I wouldn't be lying if I said running away was tempting,' Brendan said, stopping her from even moving.
She could see him from her peripheral vision, his face, as white as a sheet.
She must have been crazy to even think he'd matured.
With a grimace, he assured her, 'no, I'm coming with you. I may be a dick sometimes, and I took it too far, sorry.'
Blinking, May cursed internally as a tear slid down her cheeks. She didn't turn to face him, simply scrubbing her cheek with the back of her hand.
'Don't be like this, May. Yeah, I thought about ditching like I did whenever you destroyed one of our bikes, but that's an old habit. After last night... I wouldn't just abandon you like that, not against both our parents,' Brendan assured her, stepping in front of her to give her a hug and kissing the top of her head in the way he'd always done.
Feeling the warmth of his body, May closed her eyes and sank into the hug, wishing they'd done this sooner.
Arceus, Brendan Birch felt good, his warmth engulfing her in a way that made her almost forget all of her worries. The scent of petaya filled her nose as May tentatively wrapped her arms around his torso, burying her head in his shirt.
'Let's take it slow, and I'm not just saying that cause I'm avoiding our parents,' Brendan grinned at her as he pulled away, his lingering on her waist.
Blinking, May wondered what he meant by take it slow, her heart dropping in her stomach. Did he want to stop whatever this was?
Weren't they in too deep? Unless he hadn't meant any of what he'd said the previous night.
Her heart lurched in her throat before she sent him an anxious glance, seeing how comfortably he was picking up the bike he'd dropped.
Her hands tightened on the handlebars, unsure what he meant. Could they really even take it slow anymore?
She didn't particularly want to, not with how slow their leadup to this had been. Any slower and even Slowpoke would race faster than they had.
Licking her lower lip, she hesitated slightly. She had to ask. If they didn't have this discussion now, she'd sweep it under the rug completely.
'What do you mean take it slow?' She asked, her voice cracking with how anxious she was.
Brendan sent her a puzzled glance before frowning, 'in your current state we can't exactly race to your door, and I'm not facing them alone. They'll annihilate me as it is.'
'Are... Are we actually telling them?' May squeaked, her cheeks so flushed she couldn't believe her head hadn't exploded.
Wouldn't their parents kill them for betraying their trust?
Rolling his eyes, Brendan hissed, 'we have to! You can't keep a secret to save your life, and we both know that I'm a dead man if we try to hide it.'
Shuddering Brendan muttered, 'I don't even think that Norman will be as scary compared to both our mums.'
Grimacing, May couldn't deny that. Her father often pretended to be tougher than he was, meanwhile both their mothers, whilst sweet and charming… could be intense, though it usually took a lot to get them there.
Her almost dying would probably tick them off.
With an incredibly forced smile, he continued, 'besides, this way I get to see Orlando's face in person.'
Shaking her head, May hobbled forward, grateful that Brendan hadn't known what she'd meant.
Just the thought that they could be together, her heart was bursting with joy, grinning down at her hands.
A/N 2:
Housekeeping and some notes re: my stories on here and good old pat ree on
Firstly, thank you so much for supporting me by reading, reviewing, liking and following my work, it really does mean the world to me. With regards to Patty, I'll continue uploading the chapters ahead of time on pat r eon starting next month. I'll be honest, I've been struggling to upload my fan fictions there simply because I feel like I'm uploading more than I am writing and editing. For my sanity (and hopefully motivation), I'll be uploading the chapters for the month in one document per fan fic just so I can focus on my work.
For clarification purposes, I'm at the stage where I want to focus on my own stories for a bit. I still love Pokemon, but I'm writing these fictions with the pacing of the anime in mind, and I'd like to just focus on a more realistic pacing of a story with my own characters, world and lore. I've written a fair bit for both May, Gym Leader and May's Belated Journey so I've got a buffer to focus on my own stuff. I love how interactive the Pokemon community can be, but I'm really hoping that my dream of being a successful author can come to fruition (which is super hard because I'm such a perfectionist too, so I'm constantly reading and editing my own fiction).
As you can (hopefully!) tell from my stories on here, I try not to half-arse anything. Given that one of my favourite series is Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time, I really hope that I can write something with characters as realistic, raw and human as some of the people he's portrayed, as well as incorporate lore, worlds and cultures that I've created from scratch (probably using cultures from ancient history as a rough guide. I don't want to start adding real cultures or beliefs in there because, frankly, I doubt I'd do them justice, especially since cultures are so nuanced)
Unfortunately, that probably means I shouldn't be focusing on my fan fiction as much as I have been, especially since fan fiction and hobbies don't keep a roof over my head (if only it did, hey?) and I can't become a successful author just publishing fan fiction (unless Pokemon become aware of my work by some miracle and like it enough to ask me to work with them for a series based on adult characters, but that wouldn't happen, especially to me)
Like I said, I've got a fair bit written for both of my fan fictions, so uploads should continue as per usual (if only I could schedule chapter uploads on here so I can just power through with my own works) but I'm really hoping to publish a few original stories, otherwise on Kindle or maybe Royal Road (assuming Fan Fic lets me upload those names). If any of you are interested in reading more of my work but can't support me via Patty, I'd love to know if you have a specific preference for platform. As always, my dms are always open if you don't want to leave a public review.
I'm just itching to get some of my own work out there and see how people react to my original work and characters. My persona as lS2l started because I wanted feedback/to see if people liked what I could create, and I'm at the stage where I want to do it with my own work. Pokemon is a great foundation with a tonne of lore and characters (especially ones I struggle to write like Dawn, Drew or Serena, as well as unique ones such as Brock, Harley or Cilan), but they're not mine. I hope that I've added depth to them and added my own touch to them, but they're still characters I haven't created, with their own unique looks, style or catch phrases that I didn't create. It's a small nuance, but 10 year old me wouldn't have wanted to work with other people's characters, worlds and lore without trying to make my own.
Oh and by the way, I think I'm only halfway with what I've written for both of my fan fictions, and that's not even including the third arch I want to write too. Don't think I'm abandoning my fan fictions, I'm not. I'm at the stage in my life where I should otherwise do something about my dreams or give them up, and to try and fail is better than to not, right?
Sorry this is so, so long. I just wanted to update you on where things are regarding my personal desires. I promise I'll try to upload next week, though I have no idea when given how busy it will be (I might have to do a double upload the week after next, but I'm hoping it won't come to that). Also, I have uploaded everything I've written for Mount Chimney Catastrophe on Patty as well and lowered the rates for my tiers.
I really want to start publishing my own stories, so please let me know if you have a preferred platform. I have a special interest in fantasy (I've written one story for over 15 years), but I'm trying it out with some general fiction for now because I'm a wuss haha (namely, one of the ones from Patty, so that will probably become early access)
Like always, thank you so much for all of your support and I'll do my best to upload my stories next week sometime. We should be back to regular schedule from the week of Monday the 9th May. Sorry this message is super rambly, my head hurts and I probably need sleep and hydration.
If anyone has any suggested platforms, let me know. Once again, I can't thank you enough for continuing to read my work. I won't disappoint you, but if I disappoint myself and not try to achieve my dreams I'll have even less time to upload my fan fictions. I'm super curious if fan fic will let me publish royal road and kindle (or if I'll have to find a weird way of writing it like royal and road or k and indle)
Thank you so much for continuing to read my fan fiction, and I hope some of you will be interested in reading my original pieces too :)
Now imma go drink some water and sleep
