Disclaimer: I own nothing... Wait, scratch that. I am now a proud owner of a ticket to see the midnight release of Harry Potter Seven Part 2. Not as good as being Nintendo or Satoshi Tajiri, but that's all I can get.

- / - / - / -

It had been more than a week since Dawn and Paul had returned from Twinleaf Town. They hadn't seen one another since.

"Please, May, I'm fine," Dawn had insisted every time May had called her. "It's not a big deal, really. We went out twice. And those didn't really even count. It was just a mutual... assistance kind of thing. No need to worry, there were no feelings involved."

"Dawn!" May had countered, "You've seen the magazine covers, haven't you? The word is out that you two are together!"

"So?"

"Dawn, please work with me here," May sighed. "What are you going to do when people start thinking you two aren't really together?"

"Then they'll think we're fighting and we've broken up," Dawn said simply. "It's not so complex. I repeat, May: It is not a big deal. Stop trying to make it one!"

May wasn't the only one that had called Dawn, wanting to know about her and Paul's (to use the words from the article in Trainer Gossip Weekly) 'budding romance.'

"So," Zoey had began the conversation with not so much as a greeting. "You and Paul? Since when?"

"Um, hi, Zoey," Dawn laughed. "How was the Contest?"

"Don't change the subject, Dawn," Zoey returned immediately. "You and Paul. I want to know."

"Look, Zo, it's not such a big deal!" Dawn had insisted. "Yeah, me and Paul. It's not like we're getting married."

"Still. Why didn't you tell me?" Zoey asked, and Dawn could tell her feelings were hurt.

"I'm sorry," Dawn apologized. "I wish I told you."

"We're talking when I get to Hearthome, missy."

"Okay, Zoey, deal."

Her phone started ringing again mere minutes after she and Zoey had hung up.

"Hello?"

"Dawn, you'd better have a damn good excuse for not telling me!" a loud voice yelled on the other end. Dawn squeezed her eyes shut. Crap.

"Hey, Ash..."

"Oh, no, don't 'hey, Ash' me," Ash commanded. "You. Paul. Disgusting. Why?"

"Can't you speak in sentences?" someone had yelled on Ash's end of the phone. "Sorry, Dawn, he still acts like an immature caveman sometimes!"

"Tell Misty hi for me," Dawn said. "And I'm sorry I didn't tell you, Ash! But what did you expect? I knew you'd do this when you found out."

"Damn straight," Ash grumbled. "He's a jerk!"

"You haven't seen him for, like, ten years," Dawn cried out. Okay, he's still a jerk, but Ash doesn't know that.

"That is not the point!" Ash exclaimed. "The point is that he is Paul."

"You know, I hadn't realized that," Dawn said sarcastically. "Thanks for pointing that out, Ash! What would I do without you?"

"You know what I mean."

Dawn had also received calls from Kenny, Brock, and Barry. She wasn't very close to Barry, so that was an awkward conversation. Fortunately, though, he was Barry, so the conversation was short.

"Hello?"

"Dawn, hey, it's Barry," Barry said quickly. "I can't believe you're dating Paul, I mean, he's just the greatest trainer ever, you're so lucky!"

"Uh... Thanks?" Dawn said uncertainly. "How'd you get my number?"

"I just wanted to tell you that you'd better learn a lot from Paul, he's just so awesome! I gotta go, 'bye!"

Dawn closed her phone slowly. "Well... That was weird."

Fortunately, all of the phone calls had happened in the two days after Dawn had gotten back from Twinleaf. She wondered idly if Paul was getting calls from people, too. Probably not though, as, apart from Barry, most of the people that had called her were checking on her sanity. They thought Dawn had lost her mind to date someone like Paul.

If Dawn was being completely honest with herself, she didn't know why she wasn't telling her friends that she and Paul weren't really dating. But she hadn't come close to telling any of her friends – apart from May, that it – that their 'relationship' was completely nonexistent. She didn't owe him anything, and helping him had only made her life more difficult.

But now, Dawn's life was relatively back to normal. May remained the most concerned about her, so she put off her return to Hoenn and visited Dawn in Hearthome City.

"May!" Dawn squealed, hugging and nearly suffocating her friend. "Why're you in Sinnoh?"

"To see my girl," May teased. "I was close enough, so I figured I'd see if you were actually okay."

Dawn rolled her eyes. "Please, May. It's fine. I haven't seen or heard from him in like, nine days. And look? I'm fine."

She twirled around in a circle to prove her point. May raised her eyebrows skeptically.

"Alright, then, you're fine," May conceded. "I can visit anyways, can't I?"

"Of course," Dawn grinned, stepping aside and letting May into her apartment. ""What do you want to do?"

"Just chill. I need to leave early tomorrow anyways," May said. "There's a Contest back home that I'm in. Mom and Dad still haven't seen my Contests firsthand, so I can't miss it."

"Sounds to me," Dawn said mysteriously, walking to her kitchen, "like we'll be making a lot of desserts before you leave, then."

May's eyes lit up. "You sure know me well, Dawn."

"Well, duh," Dawn laughed. "Now get your butt in here and help me."

- / - / - / -

"Arceus! How many batches of cookies is that?" Dawn exclaimed a few hours later. May looked around Dawn's kitchen: it had been spotless when she'd arrived; now it looked like a hurricane had hit it.

"Twelve?" May guessed. Dawn giggled.

"You're a terrible influence on me," Dawn sighed. "I never bake cookies when you're not around... How 'bout we take a break and make some poffins?"

"You call that a break?" May shot back. Dawn grinned and nodded.

"Okay, then," Dawn said, traipsing to the cabinet where she stored poffin ingredients. "I'll make some poffins for Quilava... Where are my Figy berries?"

"Your phone's ringing, nutcase," May called. She'd left the kitchen and flopped down on Dawn's couch in the living room. Dawn glanced around and, sure enough, a techno beat was resonating from her phone. Weird. That's not my ring tone. Dawn had her favorite song as her ring tone; unknown numbers had the annoying, pre-set tone. She leaned across the counter and snatched up her cell phone. She didn't recognize the number.

"Hello?" Dawn answered, returning to her cabinet in search of the Figy berries.

"I need you to meet me at the Contest Hall," a bored voice responded.

"Um... I think you have the wrong number," Dawn said absently. Her words were met with an exasperated sigh. She recognized that sigh...

"I don't have the wrong number," the voice said. "Will you just be at the Contest Hall in twenty minutes?"

"Who is this?" Dawn asked, but the answering sigh told her enough. "Paul!"

May's head snapped up and her eyes met Dawn's. Dawn shrugged in response to May's glare.

"Yeah. So, will you be at the Contest Hall or not?" Paul asked.

"Why would I be?" Dawn asked in response. She could almost hear Paul rolling his eyes.

"Because I asked you to be there."

"So? I'm busy."

"Please?" Paul added, grinding his teeth.

Dawn didn't respond. She didn't know Paul especially well, but she was pretty sure that 'please' was not a word in his day-to-day vocabulary. Apparently, this was important.

"I guess," Dawn said. "I'll be there."

"Okay. Twenty minutes."

He hung up. Dawn closed her phone and her eyes and awaited the explosion.

"Dawn, are you crazy?"

- / - / - / -

I am not crazy, Dawn told herself as she hurried to the Contest Hall fifteen minutes later. I'm just going to see what he wants. That is it.

She could see the Contest Hall, and her thoughts drifted back to her mini-fight with May.

"Dawn, you cannot go!" May yelled through Dawn's closed bedroom door as Dawn changed into a dress.

"Yes I can, May!"

"Why do you want to?" May yelled.

"Look, May, I can go and meet Paul if I want to!"

"Arceus, Dawn, why do insist on getting mixed up with this guy again?" May sighed. "Why do you think he wants to meet you, anyway?"

"I don't know, May, that's why I'm going," Dawn snapped, exiting her room and heading for the door. May ran to the door and blocked it.

"Please, Dawn," May asked. "I'm just doing this 'cause I care about you. Please. Don't do this to yourself."

"I'm not doing anything," Dawn said, pushing past her friend. "You're making this into a big deal when it's not."

Dawn returned to the present and looked around the square in front of the Contest Hall. She scanned the area for Paul and spotted him leaning against a bench, looking in the opposite direction. Dawn marched up to him and folded her arms across her chest.

"What?'

Paul started slightly and turned to face her.

"I'm surprised you came," Paul said, standing up. Dawn looked up at him. She'd just noticed that he was a good head taller than her.

"What?" Dawn repeated. Paul sighed in exasperation.

"You're very difficult. Did you know that?"

"So I've been told," Dawn shrugged. "Again: what?"

Paul sighed again, this time as though steeling himself for something. Dawn raised her eyebrows and waited. Her eyes widened as Paul dropped to the ground and looked up at her.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Dawn whispered as Paul pulled a box out of his pocket.

"Dawn. . .," Paul began through gritted teeth as he opened the box, revealing a ring. "Will you marry me?"

"No," Dawn hissed. "What the hell are you playing at?"

"Just answer the question," Paul snapped under his breath. "People are looking."

"Answer mine first," Dawn insisted.

"Will you please just say you'll marry me?" Paul asked again. "I'll explain later."

"Are you freaking kidding me?" Dawn squeaked.

"Answer!"

Dawn looked down at him for a full twenty seconds. Paul's eyes bore into hers, and Dawn was losing her resolve. She found herself nodding. And Paul grabbed her hand and slid the ring onto her ring finger.

"We can go back to my hotel room so we can talk," Paul muttered, standing up.

Dawn threw her arms around Paul's neck, and snarled in his ear, "No. We'll go back to my place. Where I can yell."

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