The warm ball of light filtered through her thin eyelids. Rays of brightness cast squares onto the floor, reflecting onto several objects in the room which decorated its otherwise simplicity. The annoyingly familiar sound of a loud ringtone dragged her out of a deep sleep. Squinting one eye open, she peered over at the bedside table, raising her head slightly. She blinked a few times, in an attempt to help her eyes adjust to the illumination directed right at her defenseless figure. She grabbed her phone from the bedside table and placed it against her ear, without bothering to check who was calling.
"Hello?" she yawned.
"Good morning, honey. Let me guess, you're still in bed and I probably woke you up!" A familiar voice said from the other end of the line, laughing meekly.
"Oh hey Mom. Good morning!" she replied, sitting up on her bed and rubbed her eyes. "Is everything alright?"
"Yes, everything's fine. Don't worry," Caroline told her calmly. "I called to ask how you're doing. Are you and Drew all settled in? I suppose the house is good?"
"Yeah," she nodded, "we love it here! We have a really great view of the lake and the metropolis, which looked just beautiful at night when they light up. We can even see the battle tower from here, although it's quite tiny."
"Oh honey, how romantic!"
She smiled faintly. "Yeah. I really miss you though. Dad and Max too."
"I miss you too, honey. We all do. The house just seems so empty without you here," Caroline sighed.
"We'll come and visit soon, Mom."'
She could hear her mother smile on the other end. "We all look forward to that, dear. You two are always welcome to come back anytime. Anyways, I got to go. Say hello to Drew for me!"
"I will. Bye Mom!"
"Bye sweetie."
She hung up the phone and placed it into the pocket of her pyjama shorts.
Five months. It had been five months since the wedding. After a month-long trip to Kalos for their honeymoon, May and Drew had moved into their new house located in South City, which was on the shores of Hoenn mainland and opposite of LaRousse City. It was a city of wide avenues and small places to sit and eat, to relax as people went about their day. There were the sky towers in the centre. There were also parks and wild spaces, a chance to walk among nature or enjoy the trails on bicycles. Yet perhaps her favourite thing was the lake that flowed through the centre, crossing the bridges, pausing just to look at the view she saw every day and loved all the more.
The house they purchased wasn't particularly a big one, but it was perfect – comfortable and spacious enough for them to live and settle down. It stood amidst the manicured lawn – lovingly paved with roses planted in circular beds. On the veranda were plants that reached up past the cedar railings and branched out gleefully into the sun. The interior of the house was a simple, Scandinavian design. The scent of the new house still lingered in the air. This house is their home, where the laughter happens, and beautiful memories are made.
A small smile quirked up the sides of her lips just as another yawn escaped. Sighing contentedly, she looked over to find that she was unaccompanied in bed. She shuffled out of bed, the blankets fell slowly to her waist and entered the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth.
She left the bedroom and made her way downstairs, where she was instantly met with the irreplaceable smell of brewing coffee. A hint of a smile tugged at her lips, as she continued down the hall. She hid around the corner and peeped into the kitchen and was met with the welcome sight of Drew. He was dressed in nothing, but her favorite pair of his sweats - the grey ones.
Tiptoeing over to him, she wrapped her arms around his waist, startling him a bit.
Drew smiled, looking down at her over his shoulder. "Good morning, sunshine."
"Morning!" She smiled innocently up at him, before tugging his coffee cup out of his hand, and pulling it around him.
He turned to face her, as she took a few steps back. His left eyebrow raising in question. Leaning against the kitchen island, she continued to sip his coffee and smiled at him.
He chuckled softly. "Sleep okay?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest, watching her intently.
She pulled the cup away from her lips. "Yeah. You?"
He smiled at her and nodded.
He proceeded to spread avocado over the toast and sprinkled tomato on top as if it were cake decorations. There was a joy in how he did it, as if for a moment he was happily absorbed by a feeling of love that played in his subtle smile and soft gaze. Then he brought two plates over, his and hers. May smiled softly. She could see every day of her future like this and she wanted it, she wanted to stay and be a part of it more than anything she had ever wanted.
"Mom called just now. She told me to say hello to you," May spoke, cutting her avocado toast with a knife and fork and putting it in her mouth.
"I suppose that's the reason you're up so early this morning." Drew smirked behind his coffee cup. He stifled a laugh when she scowled at him.
"Can't help it. A girl needs her beauty sleep, you know," May argued.
He scoffed, but instantly cleared his throat when her scowl turned into a glare. "Why do you need it? You're already so beautiful."
She rolled her eyes at him, stabbing her toast with the fork.
"So, why did Mom call?" Drew asked, taking a mouthful of toast and the topic slowly faded away.
May looked up at him, her eyes softened. "Even after all this time, I love it when you call my mom, Mom. That's like, better than when you said you loved me for the first time."
Hr arched his eyebrow and shook his head, laughing.
She giggled. "She just asked how we're doing. With the house and everything. That's all."
Her smile faded immediately. She looked down at the empty plate in front of her, dragging the metal fork against it as it made a loud, annoying scratching sound.
"May. What's wrong?"
She bit her tongue, trying to hold the tears that threatened to leave her eyes. He rested his hand on top of hers, brushing his fingers gently over her knuckles.
"I just miss them. Mom, Dad and Max…" she whispered, looking up as she met his eyes.
He smiled faintly and laced his fingers with hers, their wedding bands glistened as they made contact. He cupped her cheek with his other hand, stroking his thumb gently across her cheek.
"Let's go visit them. Next week," he whispered.
Her eyes softened, and she gave him a genuine smile this time. She nodded, leaning in to kiss him. She pulled back slowly, her breath ghosting over his lips. "`I love you."
"I love you too."
Her cheeks flushed pink. He tucked a little hair out of her face and kissed her again. It was less gentle, less chaste this time. Her arms wrapped around his neck, bringing them closer. He grunted when she tugged his hair. It felt really soft under her fingers. His lips gentle against hers before he slowly moved down towards her jaw and her neck.
It was the sound of a ringtone that broke them apart. They leaped away from each other, startled. May grabbed her phone and glanced at the screen, before pressing it to her ear.
"Hey Dawn! How are you?"
"Oh, I'm fine," she replied. She paused for a moment, "so, the last time we spoke on the phone, I've been doing a lot of thinking."
"Mm hm," May hummed, prompting her friend to continue. She watched Drew getting up and walked over to the sink with their empty plates.
"I talked to Paul after that. And he… agreed to go out with me."
May gasped, grinning widely. "Dawn, that's great! I'm so happy for you!"
"But, I'm not sure if it's a date though. It seemed like he only agreed just so that I would stop annoying him," Dawn told her.
May heard her sigh. "Still, he agreed. That means he wants to go out with you. He could have said no."
"I guess."
"Just go out with him. And see what happens then," May said, taking the last sip of coffee. "When is this date – I mean… uhm outing." She smacked her forehead lightly.
Dawn sighed again. "Next week."
"If only you're still here in Hoenn. We could meet up and talk about it, better than through the phone," May said.
"It's alright. It's better than nothing," Dawn replied, "anyways, sorry to call you so early. Hope I wasn't interrupting anything."
"No, it's fine. Drew and I just finished breakfast."
"Oh! Have you told Drew about it?" she asked.
May cleared her throat. She glanced at Drew, who had just finished washing the plates and was leaning against the kitchen counter. "No, I haven't told him yet."
She watched as Drew arched his eyebrow at her curiously, but she waved him off.
"Why not?" Dawn exclaimed.
"I just… I'll tell him soon," she muttered, biting her lip.
"Well, don't wait any longer! He needs to know," Dawn told her firmly. "Look, I have to go. I'll update you soon. Bye!"
"Okay. Bye Dawn!"
The call ended and she put her phone away. She let out a long sigh.
"What was that all about?" Drew asked her.
"What? Oh! N-Nothing. Dawn was just anxious about going out with someone," May muttered.
"That's not what I meant," he said, crossing his arm over his chest. He raised his left eyebrow. "May, is there something you're not telling me?"
She looked at him intently and inhaled deeply. She walked over to stand behind him, wrapping her arms tightly around his body. She rested her head on his left shoulder, having to tiptoe slightly to reach it and kissed his cheek softly.
"May…"
She let a breathy giggle slip past her lips.
"I'll tell you. But first, go take a shower and get dressed. It's a beautiful day, let's go out!" she chirped.
He turned around to face her and smirked. He leaned in close and whispered in her ear enticingly, "Join me?"
May blinked. She was trying to suppress the blush that crept on her face.
But she was failing. Hard.
Drew kept his smirk as he took her hand and led her upstairs and into the bathroom.
Author's Notes:
Thanks for reading! Sorry if this chapter is short and that nothing much happened. But, stay tuned for the next chapter. As always, reviews are appreciated!
By the way, South City is an anime-based location in Hoenn, from the movie 'Destiny Deoxys' which is the hometown of Sid, Rafe, Audrey and Kathryn. In case you have not watched the movie.