That's it, I'm dead. I'm screwed. He stood there uncomfortably, unsure of what to do next. He knew May heard, she said his name out loud!
"Steven, are you okay?"
Oh no, she's making her way over towards him! He inhaled sharply, letting his arms rest to his side. Oh no, that didn't feel right. He crossed them over his chest. Yikes, he didn't feel comfortable having them like that either. He could feel himself sweating, that made him even more nervous. No, take a deep breathes Steven. You can do this. She probably didn't hear you say that. Maybe she just heard your voice. Yeah, just your voice! He took deep breathes, trying to calm himself down. Oh for the love of arceus, you look like damn idiot breathing in and out like this. His eyes shifted from side to side, seeing that a few people were still staring at him. Why are they staring? Just go back to your own business!
He felt someone's fingers grip his right shoulder tightly, peering over he saw a slender hand. He was then shaken slightly.
"Steven!"
There she was, right in front of him looking concerned. "May," he managed to say. Numerous worries ran through his head. What else should he say? They haven't seen each other in person for years, should he say that she looks lovely? Yes! That's always the best thing to do, give a compliment to the lady. "You look stunning!" He gave a wide smile, attempting to act as if nothing happened before.
"Oh thank you!" She returned the smile, twirling her dress from side to side with her hands. She recalled her blaziken back since they weren't training at the moment. "You look great yourself! Wow, it's been years! How have you been? Why didn't you call? Why didn't you tell me that you were heading here? Shouldn't your first stop be at the pokemon league?" She posted a series of questions, her curious mind pondered on the possibilities to why he didn't tell her he was back. It was simple, he could have called. A part of her thought that Steven wanted to surprise her, another part of her thought that this is just a visit or a business trip.
Steven was a bit taken back by the sudden burst of questions, then again he supposed that he did owe her some answers as to why he didn't tell her he was heading back. But she owed him answers too! She never told him that she went into coordinating! Clearing his throat, he began to answer her questions, "Well. I wanted to surprise you by coming back. I did stop at the league first, someone told me that you would be at Lilycove so now here I am." He tapped his chin to think back to her questions, did he miss anything? Ah, right! She asked how he was doing! "Oh and I'm doing fine, thank you for asking." Politeness was in his blood.
May smiled at him, she opened her mouth to say something until grass head rudely interrupted her by butting in.
"Ahem." The smug boy cleared his throat afterwards to grab their attention. He walked over towards the pair while saying, "How rude of you May to leave me there."
"Well, he looked like he was in distress! I couldn't leave a friend hanging!" She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.
Wow, those sure developed nicely while he was away. Don't stare! He smacked himself mentally to keep his eyes above her shoulders.
"Aren't you going to introduce us?" The grass head appeared calm, he had his hands in his jean pockets and kept a smirk on his lips.
Steven eyed him suspiciously before turning his attention back to May who seemed to be fuming. Why was she getting so worked up over him?
"Of course I am! I was about to bring him over until you so rudely interrupted." She stuck her tongue out at him before gesturing towards Steven. "This is Steven," she started before gesturing over towards the grass head and continuing on, "Steven, this is Drew."
"Pleasure to meet you Drew, may I ask how you're acquainted with May?" He offered a handshake to the boy who was just a bit shorter than him. Steven tried to be polite as possible, for May's sake, but what Steven really wanted to do was to rip this boy apart. How dare he touch her and anger her. He just wanted to smack him across the face, maybe even unleash the wrath of metagross too.
"We're rivals!" May interjected with a smile, nodding her head.
Drew nodded in agreement, taking Steven's hand and giving it a firm shake. "You must be the famous Steven she's always talking about." Grass head's grip on Steven's hand suddenly grew tighter. "How pathetic, you got beat by a rookie. Her first go and you're all down at your knees?" He laughed mockingly before releasing his grip.
Steven growled, crossing his arms over his chest and curling his fingers into a fist to suppress the urge to smack this boy to outer space.
"Hey! Don't talk to him like that!" May punched grass head on the shoulder, making Steven smile. "How many times have you beaten me in a battle?"
That question shut Drew right up, the obvious look of displeasure that appeared his face made Steven's smile grow wider.
"That's what I thought." May triumphantly smirked. "Anyway, thanks for the good luck Drew. And I'm sure beautifly will appreciate the rose." She twirled that thing around with her two fingertips.
Steven glared at it, thinking, Roses are everywhere. It takes effort to find a precious stone.
"No problem, May. You need it." He flicked his hair to the side before taking his leave. "See you later, good luck beating me."
"You should call an ambulance ahead of time! 'Cause you're gonna get your butt whopped bad!" She used her hands to amplify her voice by having them in a cupped position at each side of her mouth. There was no response from grass head, he just continued walking until he disappeared from sight. May turned her head to face Steven, laughing nervously. "Sorry about that!"
"It's no problem, May." He gave her a reassuring smile before posing a question that had been long overdue, "Why did you decide to become a coordinator?"
A bit taken back by the sudden question and surprised that Steven found out, she shrugged her shoulders in response. "I don't know, I just thought it'd be fun to try it out." She pursed her lips, looking down at the floor before adding in, "Being champion isn't all that. I can see why you were so quick to leave the region."
He sheepishly scratched his head before replying back, "It's actually a bit more complicated than that."
"Oh yeah, huh. The thing about your dad." She almost forgot that his father wanted him to take over the company so he wanted to see the world before that happens. "Wow, all of the places you've been to. I'm curious to know what you've seen!"
"I took pictures," he blurted out. "I can show them to you!"
"Oh really? Yeah, I wanna see! You want to grab some dinner later? Maybe at like 8? We can catch up there and you can show me your pictures!" She offered, smiling from ear to ear.
Woah wait, did she just ask him out on a date? Or is it just a friendly hang out? Is it a date or a hangout? He wanted to ask her, but he feared for the answer to the question. Feeling his cheeks turn light pink, he nodded his head rapidly. "Yes! Of course!" Oh wait, that was too prompt. "I mean, sure. I have time for dinner." He coughed, fixing his necktie to appear cool.
"Great! There's this place called Anderson, it's a restaurant by the sea. I know the owners personally, they have great food!" She licked her lips, thinking of all the food they had. "Oh my arceus, Steven, they have this pecha berry pie. It's to die for!" She let out a satisfying sigh as she rubbed her stomach. "Mhmm and wait until you try their creamy pasta! Oh their original pasta with tomato sauce is good too! They put a lot of different herbs in it, mhmm. Ah and we can't forget about the gumbo! Oh their gumbo is superb!" As she listed off the various food items on the menu, Steven couldn't help but to chuckle at the girl. Same old May, ecstatic about food. "I really can't wait for dinner! I have to head back to training. See you there!" She ran out of the pokemon center to train with her pokemon.
"Bye, see you there!" He waved bye to her, smiling. He then went off to prepare for the night, he still has a few more hours until he has to meet up with her again later. Humming, he felt excited for their little date. Wait, was it really a date? Well, whatever it is, they are going to be alone together! That made Steven happy. He walked out of the pokemon center, about to fly back to his home in Mossdeep to pick out an outfit.
"Steven!"
He turned his head to see who called his name, it was a panicked Wallace running towards him. Before he could even react, the teal haired man collided with him causing them both to fall down to the pavement.
"Ouch! Wallace, what're you running from?" He rubbed his head in pain, wincing as he tried to sit up. He gave a sideways glare over at his friend who still looked panicked. The champion scrambled onto his feet and grabbed Steven's arm to pull him up forcefully.
"Quick, Steven! They're gaining on me! Pull out your skarmony! We need to get the hell out of here! Please!" Keeping a tight grip on the silver haired male's arm, he pulled away from the crowd of adoring fans.
Taking a glance back, he got an eye full of a hoard of people stampeding towards them with papers and pens. "My arceus Wallace, what in the world did you do?!" He quickened his pace, wanting to live another day to see May.
"Someone asked to see a contest move! I used to do contests, you know? Well then suddenly a crowd of people started to form! And then word got out that I'm Lisia's uncle then even more people started to come! Oh arceus, Steven, her fanboys are insane!" He let out an exasperated sigh. "If you think May's fanboys are bad, my arceus, wait until you meet the ones who root for Lisia!"He let out a frustrated groan, tugging his friend's arm with one hand while the other fumbled in his pocket for a pokeball. As they approached the beach, he finally managed to get a pokeball out and he threw it towards the sea. Out came a gyarados, waiting for them near the shoreline. "Forget your skarmony, you're too slow! Get on my gyarados and we'll head to Mossdeep!"
"Hey, it's hard trying to find his pokeball while I'm being chased around by screaming people!" He huffed, getting onto the serpentine's back with the help of Wallace and then riding away towards Mossdeep.
Finally, they arrived at Mossdeep safe and sound, away from screaming fans. They ended up relaxing at Steven's house. He poured a hot beverage for Wallace who was tired and thirsty after doing all that fan service.
"Here you go." He gave him a mug of hot chocolate.
Wallace thanked him, taking a few sips before asking, "What about you? Not thirsty?"
"Nah, I have to figure out what I'm going to wear tonight." He couldn't help but to smile at the thought of spending more time with May.
"Oh, what's the occasion? A date with May?" Wallace's lips broke into a sly smirk, showing interest in his friend's love life.
"Dinner. At a restaurant called Anderson." He told him as he shifted through various dress shirts in his dresser.
"Wow! Anderson! It's a really ritzy place. It's been open for about a year now and it has gained so much popularity! Well, I saw it coming to be honest. They have excellent food, sublime service, and the brother of the owner is a famous coordinator! I think the brother's name is uhm, Drew."
His face paled. "Drew?"
A/N: I hope you enjoyed this chapter c:. Thank you for reading!