Chapter 9

"May!" calls the man as he chases after her to her car. The meeting had just ended, and May was trying to slip out quickly to avoid him. She's glad that Drew is professional enough to not speak with her unless she has to during the meetings. However, outside of the meetings, he does whatever he wants.

"Leave me alone, Drew." She says while opening the car door.

He puts his hand on it to slam it shut again and keep it closed. Smirking at her, Drew asks, "Dinner?"

"No."

"Why not?" After thinking last night, Drew realized that he still wants May in his life. Yes, they lost connection, but they were brought back together for a reason. It's a blessing, and he will fight to be her friend again. Therefore, he's making an effort now because, when he didn't 10 years ago, they quit being friends. Seeing her again has brought a lot more joy and fun into his life, which he's missed.

"You know the media will portray us as being on a date." She knowingly tells him.

"Not if I tell them we're old friends catching up!"

"I don't wanna catch up with you."

Sighing, Drew isn't sure why she's avoiding him. Shouldn't she be as happy as him? What did he do to make her hate him this much? "Let's make a bet."

"Not interested." May glares at him for taking up her time.

"Scared?" taunts the man, which always irks her. Groudon, he can still get under her skin after all of these years!

"Leave me alone, Drew!"

"Let's have a Pokemon battle." he smirks. "Unless you're scared?"

With her intense blue eyes on his green ones, May says, "Fine. If I win, you can never bother me again!"

Despite feeling hurt by her words, Drew keeps his smirk on his face as he flicks his hair. "Okay. If I win, I'm coming over for dinner today."

While May doesn't like his side of the deal, she needs him to leave her alone. He's been making life unbearable for her since he came to the island. "Deal!" The two shake hands before separating to different sides of the empty part of the parking lot.

"Absol!"

"Go, Blaziken!" When both Pokemon pop out of their Pokeballs, their fierce looks change to those of familiarity. Absol recognizes Blaziken and May, and Blaziken recognizes Absol and Drew. Even though both Pokemon are confused as to seeing each other again, they prepare for battle. They used to train like this often when their trainers traveled together.

Blaziken knocks out Absol who then faints from Flygon. Flygon also takes care of Glaceon, but he took a lot of damage. He quickly faints from Venusaur. Roserade makes Venusaur and Wartortle faint, but Beautifly finishes her. Of course, all of the Pokemon were confused when first seeing each other again, though they always refocused to battle. With Beautifly being May's last Pokemon since Drew only has 5 Pokemon, she knows this battle isn't looking too good for her because Brew has two Pokemon left.

Smirking, Drew knows who to call out to face Beautifly. It's about time they have a reunion. "Masquerain!"

The light blue Pokemon pops out of the pokeball where he curiously looks at his opponent. Seeing Beautifly, Masquerain quickly approaches her to greet her, but she attacks him. This is a battle, and Beautifly will save the pleasantries for later. Right now, she's in the battling mentality. Masquerain seems to understand because he gets into a fighting stance. As much as he is happy to see Beautifly again, he is always ready to battle for Drew.

The battle soon ends with Masquerain beating Beautifly. As the two bug types are catching up, Drew approaches May. The battle has been very invigorating for both of them since they forgot what it's like to battle a rival. May enjoyed the energy and the rush she got from this battle. Drew also missed what it felt like to battle May, even if he did beat her without using all of his Pokemon. Life was a lot more fun with May, so he needs to be her friend again.

Despite losing, May isn't sad or discouraged. She's since learned that losing means to try harder, especially with Kai preaching it all the time. She is upset about having to have Drew over for dinner though because now it means he will know about Kai. It's not like May wants to hide the boy, but it's that she doesn't want to answer Drew's many questions. Maybe she can persuade him to have dinner tomorrow, and she'll bring Shay over? That way, May won't have to interact with Drew.

"What's for dinner, January?" smirks the man once he's beside her as they watch their Pokemon fly around together.

Frowning from the name, she replies, "Let's do it tomorrow with Shay."

He shakes his head. "I already had dinner with her yesterday. I wanna just have it with you."

"You have a girlfriend." She reminds him. May will not help Drew cheat or even look like he's cheating. She doesn't need that publicity. Plus, she's still getting visits from the orphanage, although they are less frequent now. Anything bad could result in Kai being taken away from her.

"So?" Drew's voice shakes her from her thoughts.

"We talked about this, Drew. The media will think you're cheating on her."

"And I'll tell them we're old friends catching up. Why do you keep avoiding me?" He now turns to face her, and she sees his hurt green eyes.

"There's a reason why we aren't friends anymore."

"There's a reason we were brought back together though!" insists the man.

"Well, I liked my life when you were out of it, Drew!" She can't bring him in it only for him to leave again. May knows that Drew will be gone once the contest hall is done, and she'll go through the same heartache again. Therefore, she just won't let him into her life. She's already gotten so used to her routine life with Kai. Bringing Drew into it will complicate so much.

As May watches him frown with his eyes looking more hurt, she wants to reach out and hug him. She wants to apologize and say she didn't mean it. She wants to let him back into her life, but she can't.

"Okay, May." he quietly says while backing up from her. "I won't bother you again." Drew then returns Masquerain and walks off, leaving the brunette to sigh.

Looking up at Beautifly, May tells her, "It's for the best." With the addition of Beautifly's sad gaze, May knows she's just trying to convince herself of her words.

The days afterwards, Drew has been true to his words. He hasn't talked to May at all except for the few times during the meetings. If May thought she felt awkward before, she feels even worse now because she knows she's the one who hurt Drew. Why is he trying to enter her life again? Shouldn't he also be comfortable with his successful life? He has a beautiful girlfriend who's been with him for years, and he's a successful reigning Top Coordinator.

However, May hates that she's hurt this man. This is not who May Maple is, so she has something planned for him now that it's Friday. Because May usually leaves the meetings first to get back to Kai at the Enbar house, she waits outside the building. Once she spots the green haired man, May quickly approaches him.

"Drew!"

Despite being hurt by her words earlier this week, Drew still hopes to be her friend again; therefore, he stops to face her. There has to be a reason she's calling out to him, right? He can remain hopeful. Giving the shy woman his usual smirk, Drew asks, "Yes, June."

Ignoring the name, May finds the courage to meet his eyes. "I owe you dinner."

"It's fine." he shrugs.

Shaking her head, she tells him, "No. You paid for dinner before and I lost the bet. So I owe you dinner."

While Drew would love to have dinner with May, he likes teasing her more. Plus, he's waiting to hear her say she wants to have dinner with him rather than making it sound like an obligation. "I don't wanna make you do anything you don't wanna do."

Letting out a breath, May swallows her pride. "I want you to have dinner with me, Drew." This man is so infuriating. Not only does his presence interrupt her peaceful life, but his words are interfering with her calm demeanor.

With his smirk growing from victoriously getting her to ask him to dinner, Drew does a mock bow towards her. "Where to, milady?"

Rolling her eyes, May walks past him to her car. "I have to make you dinner, remember?"

Chuckling, he lightly jogs after the woman walking briskly away. "I have exquisite tastes, May."

They're in the car, and she replies, "You'll eat whatever I cook. I don't wanna hear any complaints."

"I'm not picky." And May knows he's not. Back when they traveled together, the two could eat anywhere. Despite coming from a wealthy background, Drew doesn't mind eating fast food or anything cheap. He never lets his wealth get to his head, as he is a very humble person.

Soon, they arrive at a house, and Drew unbuckles his seatbelt, but May's hand on his arm stops him. Whenever she touches him, he freezes up because he's missed it. He's missed everything about May. Her temper, her appetite, her snoring, her passion, her love for Pokemon. Everything and more.

"This isn't my house." the brunette tells Drew, which confuses him. Why are they here then? "Wait here." she mutters and gets out of the car.

Drew watches her walk up the steps and ring the doorbell. Soon, the two children from earlier in the week are there, which disappoints the man. He thought he was having alone time with May, but it seems like she was thinking of another meal with these children. Sighing, Drew accepts his fate. Shay is a big fan of his, so he will interact with her, especially if it gives him brownie points with May.

When Shay waves at him, Drew smiles and waves back, but he's confused once Shay closes the door. The white haired boy is walking with May back to the car. Who is this kid? Drew was wondering why May brought him on Monday when the boy didn't seem interested in Drew. Drew figured this boy was a friend of the girl's, but why is May bringing this kid into the car.

Once inside, May says, "You remember Kai, right?" She motions to the boy in the backseat who nods at him.

Smiling, Drew replies, "Yeah. Hey, Kai!" He's grateful May said Kai's name because Drew had forgotten it. "We taking him home?" The man asks May as she drives off.

"Yeah." mutters May.

"You really are invested in your students." Drew astounds because he admires May's kindness. It's also what drew him to her all those years ago. She's kind to everyone. Too kind at times where she gets taken advantage of.

"It's why I'm a teacher."

Drew smiles at her and leans back in his seat. Kai is silently looking out the window, but he's listening to this conversation since he doesn't trust Drew. "Miss coordinating?"

Sighing, May keeps her gaze on the road. "I like teaching."

"You didn't answer my question."

"Do I need to?"

He shrugs and looks at her. "I miss traveling." With a grin on his face, he adds, "We had so much fun when we traveled together."

Although May wants to agree, she won't show it. Just nodding, she replies, "I don't reminisce on the past."

Despite feeling hurt at her wanting to forget about him, Drew smirks. "Because you remember all your embarrassing moments?"

Gripping the steering wheel tighter, May glares at the road. "I did not have embarrassing moments."

"Remember that time in Lavender Town when you woke up all the ghost Pokemon in Pokemon Tower?"

She blushes as she recalls getting scared by a Ghastly. Her shrieks then woke up more ghost Pokemon who scared her even more as Drew had just laughed beside her. "You were no help." She hisses at him. "You're never any help."

Rolling his eyes, Drew responds, "Please, May. You were the one who followed me to Johto because you wanted my mentorship."

"If I recall, you invited me to Johto!"

He blushes from the thought since he had encouraged May to come to Johto with him when they were 11. However, Drew Hayden doesn't lose his cool, especially to May Maple. Flicking his hair, he coolly replies, "But then you invited me to Kanto and to travel with you."

"That was obviously a mistake." Sighing, Drew looks out the window. There's a lot he wants to say to her, but not with Kai in the backseat. How would May look if she argued and her student is in the car?

Soon, the car pulls up to a small house, so May and Kai get out. Drew is confused because May took her keys out of the car. Aren't they just dropping off this kid? However, when she turns to give him a questioning look, she says, "Aren't you coming?"

Fumbling with his seatbelt, Drew quickly hops out of the car to follow her. "I thought we're taking him home?"

"He is home." May tells Drew as she keys into the house, making Drew more confused. Why does May have keys to this kid's house?

Nevertheless, when Munchlax greets Kai and then curiously looks up at Drew, Drew starts to piece everything together. "You two live together?"

Walking towards the kitchen, May replies, "Yeah."

Drew studies Kai now, which makes the boy uncomfortable. This boy doesn't look like May, and his eyes are a different shade of blue than hers. Hers are a sapphire while his are a midnight blue. "Are you her son?" Drew asks the quiet boy.

Shaking his head, Kai hangs up his winter coat on the coat rack. "May takes care of me."

Although Drew has a lot of questions from this response, he chooses not to pry. He ignores everyone's questions about his relationship, so he won't question these two, though he is glad to hear May doesn't have a child. Seeing as how it's only these two in this house, it must mean she's single, right? Groudon, Drew! He shouldn't care because he's not single.

Walking into the kitchen after he hangs up his coat, Drew spots May cutting veggies. He washes his hands and asks, "Need some help?"

"No." She quickly responds because she doesn't want to be alone with him.

With a smirk on his face, Drew stands beside her. "Too bad."

"You're the guest."

"And you have to obey my requests." he knowingly tells her as he starts cutting vegetables with her.

"You should go watch TV. A guest shouldn't be doing chores." insists the brunette.

"This isn't a chore." Drew replies. "Nothing ever feels like a chore with you." He blushes as he realizes what he just said. Fortunately for him, May isn't looking at him because she's hiding her blush too. Drew doesn't know why he said that. It seems like he's flirting with her, which he shouldn't be doing because he has a girlfriend!

"So you'll wash dishes later?" May's voice breaks Drew from his thoughts. Her blush had cooled and she mustered up enough courage to move on from his comment.

With him still being embarrassed, Drew nods. "I'll clean the whole house if you want."

Giggling, May shakes her head at him. "Don't give me any ideas, Drew."

Hearing her giggle only intensified Drew's blush. He's missed a cheerful May, especially her laugh. It's like when they used to travel together. Why did they ever stop traveling together? Oh yeah. Him.