Equanimity, Chapter 5
Dawn knew that she was imposing.
With sunglasses placed firmly on the bridge of her nose and her fingers tapping against her waist while she waited for her two friends to leave their room at the pokemon center; fellow coordinators, May and Drew. Beyond the door, Dawn heard them shuffling to pull together some of their exposed indecency, and with a sort of twist of her mouth; Dawn had to correct herself.
She was imposing a lot.
May and Drew technically invited her though, and with two weeks together already; she was surprised how quickly those two moved their relationship along. Meanwhile, Dawn hadn't even had her first kiss yet; the closest she came to getting one was with Zoey during her time in Sinnoh; and even that was because they were both modeling at the time. It seemed like everyone around her found love; except Dawn.
Sure, Dawn wasn't a romantic—far from one, actually, she liked to believe that love would happen when it needed to happen—but why was it happening for everyone but her? Wasn't she the one that practically threw Ash and Misty at each other during Ash's celebration party? If it wasn't for Dawn, they would probably still be tip-toeing around one another, that or Ash would still be dating Serena, which would have still been a mess. Dawn crossed her arms at the thought.
Maybe her problem was that she was too much like Drew? In the sense that she wasn't completely blind to love and infatuation that people had for her; unless she was an airhead like Ash or May, she was never going to find love. She grimaced at that. Where was her Ash? Or May? Dawn kicked out her feet and grimaced as piplup flashed out of his ball.
"You must be getting hungry, huh?" she asked, checking her watch once more before glancing back at the still-closed pokemon center door. She knew that her cohorts had been up for a long time last night, but what on earth could be taking them so long?! Dawn was scared to check. Instead, she smacked her lips and allowed for piplup to jump into her arms.
"I'm going for breakfast!" Dawn shouted as a last attempt, but it fell flat so she sighed and started down the benevolent path of what she felt would be the rest of her life as a single-woman. By this age, her mom has already had several boyfriends—Dawn had none. Zero. What a thing to be upset about!
Typically, she didn't put a lot of merit on being in a relationship, but with all of her friends finding someone; she sort of felt like the side character to their story. Like she was demoted from being the princess to being the maid, and she was insanely bitter about it—only made worse by what Paul said to during their quick stint as traveling companions.
Bitterly, Dawn sucked in air and kicked her boots along the path of the paved street below her. She was still brooding but she also loved her friends; and was insanely happy for them. She just wished a little bit of that happiness would rub off on her.
Dawn pinched the bridge of her nose, kicking a stray rock as she found perch on one of the benches along the pier of the city. For a brief moment, she wondered how her friends were doing. Brock was off somewhere in Johto; Zoey, was off trying to become a contest judge, Kenny was still following her around to each region so he could compete with her—May was well, May was here; but she wasn't, Drew was more like an acquaintance, Ash was on the cover of every news magazine with Misty-whether she wanted to be or not— while everyone else seemed to shuffle back into their normal lives, Dawn simply could not.
No, battling and contests were going better than ever for the blue-haired female. She was winning ribbons left and right, her pokemon seemed to listen to her. On cue, piplup tried to dive into a trashcan, and she was forced to wrangle the small pokemon away from the object with a devote sigh. Most of her pokemon listened to her most of the time. Dawn rolled her eyes, stepping into the breakfast cafe where she walked immediately over to the counter and pursed her lips.
"Hello, what can I get for you?" Asked an overly chipper girl with blonde hair. The smile was forced, but she was getting paid to show up and be friendly, so that was all that mattered, right? Dawn appreciated the gesture.
"I'll have one blueberry scone, and one apple turn over." Dawn hummed—deciding to skip out on coffee this morning.
"Alright, I can get that for you." The barista crooned while maneuvering her way among the back of the counter. She grabbed quickly the two sweet cakes and tucked them into a paper baggy and handled them to Dawn as she rang up Dawn's ticket.
"Your total comes to 6.47, will you be paying cash?"
Dawn smiled, and then pat her pack for her wallet with a cheery smile. Only... she twisted her fingers around the empty pocket and then quickly turned them out with a disgruntled frown. Perfect! She must have left it at the pokemon center with her backpack! Smacking her forehead, she ran her palm along her face, piplup mimicking the action.
"I left my wallet else where... I'm so sorry." Dawn whined with a prompt sigh.
"Oh, that's totally alright." She said, but the way she rolled her eyes told Dawn that it wasn't.
Dawn was backing away from the counter as the woman was about to void the transaction when a hand came forward, dropping a ten onto the counter.
"Keep the change." The strained, deep voice called over Dawn's shoulder.
The barista's forced-joy returned as she took the money, waved Dawn off.
A coffee-shop hero, maybe this was her lucky day! Though, as she turned to see none other than Gary Oak lumbering beside her, with one hand in the pocket of his purple jeans, and the other stroking his chin.
"Small world." He commented, then immediately turned without thinking to invite her to sit down. A stunned Dawn floundered for a moment, and then walked carefully on his heels while piplup started to gnaw into the scones before reaching his table.
"Gary... Why are you here?"
As she plopped down at the table where his paperwork and laptop took over half the table, he eyed her questionably.
"Working, as I occasionally do." He nodded, with a bit of a smile. "You seem awfully stunned. You alright?"
Dawn's shoulders squared and she shook her head, plopping her apple-turn over onto the only clean side of the table.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just surprised to see you here, is all."
"Yeah, me too. Gramps sent me on a wild goose chase, so I'm just killing time." Gary exhaled, "Honestly, I think it was because most of Pallet Town wouldn't stop talking about Ash's victory, and he thinks it's getting to me."
Dawn narrowed her eyes.
"...is it?"
"No. I'm very happy for him. If I wanted to continue the life of a battler, I would have. However, it's no longer my cup of tea, and I wish people would acknowledge that."
His nonchalant behavior was a great indicator. She couldn't understand why anyone would think he cared. Then again, she wasn't as close to Gary as Ash's other friends and former rivals, so she shrugged, thinking best to change the subject.
"Fair enough... But most people say 'hi, how are you' to start a conversation, not something so deep."
Gary tore his dark eyes from the paper he was reading. Glaring at her, he smacked his lips, and Dawn thought she saw a streak of playfulness run through his eyes.
"You were the one who asked why I was here." He leaned back, crossing his arms. "I answered the question."
Dawn puffed up her flushed cheeks, and looked away from his stony gaze. For Arceus' sake... she swore then smiled at him.
"You're right. Sorry. How are you?"
"Curious." He narrowed his eyes again, leaning on the table with his elbows, and folding his hands beneath his chin.
"And how are you, Dawn?"
Sweat trickled down the back of her neck, suddenly on the hot seat. She had met Gary several times in the past, including a brief moment where she believed Gary and his grandfather were poets, not pokemon researchers—mostly because Gary was so well-spoken. Dawn's fingers twitched, and she tried to focus on piplup eating her turnover after devouring his scone, but Gary's eyes were boring holes into her soul. She could hardly look away.
"I'm just dandy." A forced answer, if she ever heard one, though it was enough to strike laughter in the young researcher, and he teared away his vision, back to his paper.
"Relax, I'm not interrogating you."
"You're too intense. I don't like it."
Gary shot a brief glance her way, possibly frowning, she couldn't tell—but definitely witnessed amusement play through his eyes.
"If you say so."
A few moments of silence followed while Dawn rescued her apple-fritter from piplup, and took a few bites.
"So, what, uh, goose chase did he send you on?"
"I'm searching for, this pokemon." Gary briefly held up a picture of Kyogre, then set it back down, trying not to roll his eyes. "You know, beast of the sea—already researched a million times. He just wants to make sure the ecosystem is friendly."
"Harsh." said Dawn, sympathetically, shifting uncomfortably. When he didn't reply to her comment, she drew fumbled to find a conversation.
"May and I are planning to participate in a contest here pretty soon." She added, changing the topic.
"You and May, huh? I thought you were traveling with Paul?"
"Well, I was..." Dawn flinched backwards, crossing her arms over her chest while piplup freely devoured the rest of her apple-crisp, and then returned to the seat beside her.
Gary suddenly leaned forward, running his tongue over his teeth. "Did something happen?"
"Why, are you the drama police?"
"I do like a good story." A smug grin crossed his face, his teeth showing from the corner of his mouth, and while Dawn thought he was just being snarky, she couldn't help but roll her eyes.
While she sat, tapping her nails against the wooden table and looking outside at the glowing sun, and people walking down the street, she mulled the idea over. It was an opportunity, after all, Gary didn't know Dawn that well, and he had no reason to talk. Different than if she told May, who would in turn tell Drew; who wouldn't tell anyone, but would look at her differently. Dawn exhaled, lips pursed and shrugged. Even though she sat quietly, deciding on whether or not to tell him, Gary hadn't looked away. Probably trying to fit the puzzle together himself.
"It's not really that interesting..." Dawn decided to say, breaking eye contact.
"I'm sure it is. Paul is such a charismatic guy."
Snorting, Dawn said sarcastically: "Sure he is."
Gary shrugged, deciding prying wasn't worth it. "If you don't want to share, you don't have to. No one is forcing you."
"Oh," She grunting, giving in. "-but I want to tell someone so I don't think that I'm the one being crazy."
Gary's brows rose then lowered, and then he sighed. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he closed his laptop, shuffled his files into one pile, and rest his folded hands on top of them.
"Spit it out then, I haven't got all day."
"You can't tell anyone."
Gary blinked a few times, scrunching up his nose. "Who on earth would I tell?"
Dawn shrugged. "Ash, maybe?"
"Yes, because the first conversation I'm going to have with him is going to be about your gossip."
She huffed. "Then why do you want to know?"
"Takes my mind off of my own problems, and, I get the bonus of entertainment." He sat back, throwing one arm behind the back of his chair, awaiting her story.
"Well... it's kind of stupid now... but I suppose I will tell you, despite your reasons for listening." And so, tucking her hands under her chin thoughtfully, she started at the beginning:
After she helped save Paul from Team Rocket and pieced together Ash and Misty's relationship, there wasn't much else for the coordinator to do, but to try to piece Paul's life together. So, Paul and Dawn left Ash's celebration party together. After all, they spent the majority of their teenage years bickering, the least she could do is figure out why he had to appear so stoic and indifferent all the time.
Paul changed from ignoring her existence to moderately giving her some attention; which meant they were friends, right? Friends traveled together! So, when she invited herself to travel with him through Hoenn Region, she expected different treatment than how he usually acted—the problem, was that he didn't really change at all.
"People don't usually change for no reason." Gary chimed in, brows narrowed as Dawn waved him off.
"Yes, but when I would ask him where we were going, he would hardly respond." She gestured with her arms, letting them drop comically. "He was like a robot."
Gary shrugged, as she continued her reiteration of the recent events.
Paul was moody and unwilling to go along with her plans and optimism. They signed up for their appropriate league tournaments: battles for Paul, contests for Dawn, and for the first week; they got along fine.
"Fine? Gramps says when a woman is fine, she's lying."
"Well he wasn't wrong this time."
Paul was frustrating because he never reacted to her comments or observations; he spent most of his time training, which was fine, because Dawn also spent most of her time preparing for contests—but it was literally all he would do. Stop to eat somewhere? He couldn't, he didn't want to spend the money, even though he won six matches in a row. Sleep in a Pokemon Center? Out of the question! A real trainer tread the same ground as their pokemon. Jokes? Small talk? Conversation other than "whatever"? It honestly felt like Paul regressed back to how he was when he first met Dawn, but he had no reason to. They were friends, he had opened up to her at least once after Team Rocket kidnapped him.
Gave her hope that he was finally a better person... but then...
Dawn stopped talking and started gnawing on the inside of her lip to better explain herself as Gary blinked, trying to keep his laughter in by sipping his coffee. She could tell that he was finding this 'story' funny, and a part of her knew it was ridiculous, saying it out loud, but she kept going.
"So... then I asked him why he acted that way. Directly, you know? Because I hate beating around the bush."
Gary almost seemed giddy at her comment, his face scrunched up cynically. "Bet he didn't take that well?"
"No! Apparently asking him why he had a stick up his ass was a bad assessment of the situation."
Gary laughed, then covered his mouth. "You didn't actually say it like that, did you?"
Dawn grumbled something about technicalities, still angry over the event.
"No, but I wish I had!"
Perhaps she was far to abrasive for the introverted Paul, but she asked him directly if he had emotions. If he cared at all that she was traveling with him.
'No.' Being his answer was a little hard for the blue-haired wonder to take. In fact, she took it terribly, throwing the drink she had just bought onto the ground and readily storming off—though of course before she did, she had to get the last word in.
'I don't know why I bothered traveling with you!'
In that moment, Paul rolled his eyes, he did that a lot around Dawn. Then, he tried to tune her out by having his pokemon change their tactics—but if Dawn hated anything more than rude people, it was being ignored.
'Honestly, how could you ever expect to make friends acting this way?'
'Maybe I didn't plan on having any.'
'So you want to go at the world alone. Forever?'
'Why not?'
Please! Dawn didn't believe him to be really that stoic, not for a minute. No one was that serious, or that cruel... so she approached him.
'I want to be your friend!'
'You just said you were leaving.'
'I didn't say I was leaving.'
His face was paler than it was before, and seeing him up close she pursed her lips.
'In fact, what if I said I wanted to date you?'
'I'd say you were crazy.;'
'Why, are you scared? Scared to feel something?
"So...Was Paul like a project, or something?" Gary asked, interrupting quickly.
Dawn blew a strand of hair from her face, recalling everything while rubbing her temples. "No... I was upset at the moment, and was trying to get a rise out of him... and... boy did I ever get one."
'What is wrong with you? Have you always been obsessed with relationships? I'm not scared of anything, and further more it's none of your business!'
After his outburst, the first folly of rage she had seen from him, he followed immediately by saying: 'I think it would be best if we traveled alone for now.'
'I was just kidding...' Dawn tried to explain, though he already picked up his back, and was on his way out of the forest clearing—without her.
'Say you're joking all you want. You can't seem to think outside of it. All you talk about are relationships; you've forgotten your goals.;'
'And.. for the record,' Paul growled, staring coldly at her with onyx eyes. 'I think relationships are stupid. I think people who put all of their faith into relationships are stupid. You should learn to be yourself, by yourself.'
"And so, I was by myself, just like that." Dawn snapped her fingers for emphasis, while piplup curled onto her lap. Gary wouldn't have thought she was very upset if not for piplup's reaction. She was wonderful at hiding her real feelings behind a facade of frustration. Shame her pokemon allowed him to read her emotions with no problem.
"Did you take his advice?"
"Of course not. He's an ass." Dawn elaborated, but then shrugged a bit. "Maybe I did have a bit of relationship fever after all of my closest friends started pairing off."
Gary nodded, trying to understand the situation. "Do you think Paul saw it that way, and reacted by scolding you?"
"Are you defending him?" Dawn glared, sitting back in her chair. Gary put up his arms.
"No," he paused, but Dawn didn't let him finish his observation.
"For the record, I know I shouldn't be so upset. I was way too abrasive, and he reacted the way any normal person would have."
Gary raised his hand, shaking it side to side to say 'so-so' and shrugged. "I dunno, I wouldn't have reacted that way."
"Really?" She challenged, eyelids lowered.
"Of course! If Dawn Matthews offered to date me, I'd be insane to turn it down." Gary winked.
Rolling her eyes any harder might have turned her eyes inside out, because she scoffed.
"Oh please, we all know you have a thing for Misty."
Suddenly, the humor dried up, and Dawn realized that she had a way of putting her foot in her mouth.
"I just mean that-"
"No, no you're right." Gary waved her off. "Though I'm a very firm believer that once you've been rejected, you should move on."
The way he enunciated the words, Dawn knew he was talking to her directly about her situation with Paul. Move on, Gary suggested, but what did that presume? She hardly had anything to move on from, and it wasn't like she had a crush on Paul! They weren't even friends, apparently. She assumed and it blew up in her face. Paul was the one that got his panties in a twist about a single comment that she made.
Dawn sat back in her chair and narrowed her eyes.
"I'm not pinning over Paul," she decided with a roll of her shoulders. "I'm just a little lonely, is all."
Gary's brows rose behind his side-swiped bangs, and he shook his head.
"You're like, what? Eighteen? Too young to feel lonely."
Dawn dropped her hands onto the table, exasperated. "I know it sounds silly, but with couples like May and Drew, and Ash and Misty—when do I find my charming?"
"Some of us never do." Gary nodded, trying not to sound as cynical as he was. "Besides, you have a million other things to focus on besides whether or not you find your 'one true love'."
"You're starting to sound like Paul."
"Paul was an ass about it, but maybe he wasn't wrong. It's not right to meddle in peoples personal lives."
Again, Dawn cocked her jaw to the side, a double meaning once more; a stab at the fact that she helped along Ash and Misty's relationship—and probably May and Drew's in some way. Most of the time, she wasn't even sure why she cared so much about other peoples lives. It wasn't that she found it entertaining, as Gary proclaimed earlier... maybe she was looking for someone.
"You're right." defeated, she recoiled and Gary huffed, feeling bad for her.
"But, if you need someone to beat up Paul—Ash does have a nice right hook."
"Really?" She smirked slyly. "How do you know?"
"Let's just say I was a little snippy with him during his first date with Misty."
"Ooh. Juicy. Tell me more."
"Not much more to tell." Gary brushed his fingers along his once swollen cheek thoughtfully, inwardly wincing at the memory as Dawn huffed.
"I think you should take your own advice." Dawn smiled, her heart ached for how endearing Gary sounded when mentioning the redhead. The researcher shrugged.
"In time." He took another drink of coffee. "Meanwhile, I'm okay being on the market."
Dawn chuckled, ready to try to pry into Gary's life, until the clock behind her chimed that it was noon, and she nearly fell out of her seat. "Oh shit, Drew and May are probably already waiting for me."
"Best not keep them." Gary nodded, tipping his glass to say goodbye.
Dawn got up to leave, collecting her garbage and patting down her dress thoughtlessly. She tossed out a quick thank you for covering the bill, then stopped instantly, and looked over her shoulder to Gary.
"Hey, why don't you travel with the three of us for awhile? I mean, unless you're too busy chasing geese?"
"Pass." He shuddered. "I'm not into being a third wheel, especially not a fourth."
"Your loss. They go to the best restaurants." Dawn swiped her hair over her shoulder, then hesitated; part of her felt guilty for leaving so quickly.
"Thank you... for listening."
"Don't mention it." Gary said, returning to his paper, only to glance up at her immediately, blinking several times. "Seriously. Don't."
A wide grin tugged at her lips, and she wanted to press the issue that he wanted to remain the camp 'tough guy' in title only, but she took the little meeting to heart and waved before leaving.
XOX
Her trek back to the pokemon center was swift, but Dawn allowed herself plenty of time to think. Strolling through the beautiful city, she watched leaves fly through the air, the clouds roll beside her, and new trainers eagerly running down to earn their newest badge or ribbon. Despite the strange encounter, running into the young Gary Oak seemed to lift her spirits about the situation.
Clearly, she over reacted with Paul, there was no reason to force her agenda on him. Less of a reason to care if he behaved a certain way. After all, he wasn't her project. Talking about it did make her feel better, especially now that she wasn't stewing in her own toxic mindsets.
The entire situation seemed silly now, but with the guilt and frustration lifted off her shoulders, she was ready to take on her next challenge—maybe she'd even reveal to May what was bugging her. Perhaps she would call Paul and apologize? The world was her oyster!
In fact, maybe she could do that just now. Sitting down on a bench on the upper level of the sidewalk outside of the pokemon center, Dawn took out her phone and found Paul's familiar number, and typed out a quick apology: 'I am sorry for the way I acted! I hope you kick-butt in those league matches. Xoxoxoxo'
Dawn sent the message without second guessing herself, because she felt good right now. A new high she hadn't been on in a week or two. Enjoying the brief solitude of sitting and relaxing in the sun, Dawn tilted her head back and exhaled.
"Piiiplup-pip." The small penguin commented happily, to Dawn's approval.
"We were pretty lucky to run into him. I'll have to thank Professor Oak for sending him on a wild goose chase one of these days." She replied happily, tapping her foot on the concrete, melting into the outdoors.
"Where on earth did she go?" Drew's voice carried through the steps, up to where Dawn was sitting. Right, they were supposed to prepare for the latest contest together. Dawn almost responded, but May's giggling stilted her confidence.
"She'll be back, there's still a few hours before the contest—and besides, that gives us some alone time."
Beneath the small balcony, Dawn peered over to see May hug a scowling Drew, and Dawn's heart sank. It was a cute, chaste moment shared between the two young lovers, witnessed by a woman who should have been ecstatic, but felt her stomach grumble uncomfortably as her phone buzzed in her hand; a response from Paul, that suddenly annoyed the hell out of her.
"Hey, I'm up here." Dawn yelled, placing her phone into her bag pocket, while May and Drew looked up to see her.
"Where have you been?"
"Me? I was getting breakfast while you two were still snoring!"
"May likes to sleep in sometimes..." Drew grumbled, though Dawn rolled her eyes, smiling.
"I'm sure that's what you guys were doing!" Laughing, May rubbed the back of her neck, but broke away to race up the stairs to meet Dawn.
"C'mon, we have to practice for our appeal matches."
"Actually, I have a few ideas for something new I wanted to run by you." Dawn gestured with her hands, choosing to ignore the forced, lackluster response from May who gave a weak 'yaay' in response.
"It'll be fun." Dawn shoved May gently as Drew joined the two women. In her pocket, her phone went off once more, but Dawn smiled through the beeping. Helping May would help her feel better right? Delving into personal lives kept her mind off of her own. Gary liked to hear stories, Dawn liked to participate. Until the frustration over Paul truly passed, she would continue to mask her emotions by helping May over her hurdle.
XOX
Helping May only took her to the end of the day. From there, she was alone again. Drew had offered to take May to dinner, and since Dawn was imposing on their adventures, she decided to let them have a 'date' while she ran off to deal with her own problems. Close to ten, she walked aimlessly around the city, admiring her latest ribbon. Ribbons were just one part of the puzzle to the Grand Festival. Before she knew it, she could be the next top-coordinator. Attending events to give input and advice about the next festival, or the next tournament. When Dawn was a little kid; her mom used to talk about how amazing the gatherings were. They were practically treated like royalty.
However, that all changed when she found out she was pregnant with Dawn, and her motivations switched from running the coordinating league, to taking care of her baby.
Dawn twisted the ribbon, then placed it back into the box that contained them neatly.
Was her mom better than she was? Hadn't she already been a top-coordinator by this age? Unlike Dawn, Caroline was a force to be reckoned with; she won several different leagues in a short time-span. Whereas Dawn would make it to the finals, and somehow choke. Often time, Dawn told herself it was because she wasn't focused enough, she worried about everything during the match—sometimes to the point of self-destruction.
She was close. Hoenn region was going to be her lucky star. This was the time and the place she would win.
"...Dawn." The gruff voice shook her prematurely from her thoughts, as the young woman spun around to face a tall man, dressed mostly in black; with shaggy, lavender hair.
A few emotions went through her, surprise, then fear, then frustration, and then happiness. Hesitantly, she waved.
"Paul? What on earth are you doing here?"
He pointed to the building she was pacing by—the gym. He had probably just won the match—what a horrible coincidence. Paul probably thought she was trying to stalk him, or something. Naturally, she stuck out her hands, and waved them around frantically.
"I promise I'm here by accident! I had no idea you'd be here. Didn't even know where I was going!"
The faintest smile tugged at his lips, but then disappeared as quickly as it came.
"It's alright. I'm happy to see you." He said that, but he didn't look happy. He seemed as stoic as he ever was. Dawn narrowed her eyes as he approached with his hands tucked away in his pockets.
"You are?" She questioned, "You're not still...mad at me?"
Scowling, he very slightly shook his head. "I was never mad at you."
"You seemed kinda mad." She argued, but that only brought more of a scowl to his face.
"Sometimes you say..."
"I know sometimes I say terrible things that I don't really mean—because you were right, I do try to fix people's problems way too much, and I put my nose where it doesn't belong and I can be really assertive, but I'm trying really hard to-"
"You done?" Paul interjected with cold eyes while she rubbed the back of her neck.
"...Ah...I suppose." She laughed.
"I guess I want to say that I'm sorry, I had no reason to keep bugging you about your personal life. It was uncalled for."
Though she spoke these words, he hadn't actually moved. Hadn't agreed. Instead, he remained only a few inches from her, looking down with his onyx eyes—contemplating. Unfortunately, the stare gave Dawn goosebumps, and made her very uncomfortable.
"...Is there something on my face?"
Then it happened, he dipped the small distance between them, and placed a modest kiss against her pink lips. His posture remained unchanged aside from the curl of his back to reach her. Their bodies stayed entirely apart, and Dawn's arms swayed at her sides.
When he moved away, she thought that she saw concern flash through his eyes, that she hadn't reciprocated the kiss. After all, she was so surprised that if someone asked her for her name, she might not have been able to tell them. Yet, Paul didn't grow fidgety, or leap backwards, or beg for forgiveness.
He watched her mind process the scenario in her head, waiting for the inevitable rejection... which he simply wasn't going to get because Dawn leaped forward, pivoting all of her strength into a hug that captured his lips simultaneously. Paul adjusted, catching her mid-jump by wrapping his arms around her waist and quickly placing her back onto the ground as she brought his mouth down to hers.
Dawn broke for a second to watch his dark eyes fill with lust as quickly as her own did. She was quick to grin, and then press back into the kiss.
This wasn't a surprise she was expecting, but she'd be silly to turn it down now.
Author's Note: edited 2018-11-28
I HATE THIS CHAPTER. If I could take this entire chapter out, I would.
I edited to the best of my ability, but if I've ever written a chapter that seemed horribly OOC and fanfic-y THIS WAS IT. I just... -inhale- I can't right now. I changed all of the dialogue between Dawn and Gary to make Gary sound more like himself, and to make Dawn not sound like a 1990's poorly written romcom.
Gary does not give Dawn Misty's number, which is important in the next chapter.
