I'm so sorry that this chapter took so long to get up! I had a lot of studying that I had to do this past week because of my midterms in school so most of my time was consumed. Whenever I had time to write, I spent it on writing the next chapter of my other Contestshipping fanfiction, Love Unexpected, because I promised my readers that I would update that story every Saturday! I'm very sorry for all of you who have been waiting for this chapter! To make up for the wait, I've made it longer so that you guys will have more to read. Now with midterms coming to an end, I'll hopefully be able to update every week now that I have more free time. Thanks for the reviews though everyone! Please keep them coming, I really appreciate it. :) Happy reading!
Responses to Reviews...
chocolatehell: Yes! Thanks so much :) And haha! I was thinking of that song when I wrote that particular sentence! :D
Obviously Citra: Yes he does. Nice, eh? ;D
ColbyDanielle: All of your questions will be answered in this chapter. :)
Empress Empoleon: I could've swore that I split that sentence up when I went back to revise it, but I guess I missed it! Thanks for pointing it out! You're a life savior ;D As for the part where May notes that his eye color matches hers, I just wrote that part down to provide a better description of what exact shade of navy I was talking about. :p
AngelicSnow: I love Glaceon, too! Oh heck, I love every single Eevee evolution, they're so cute! :D
Pear-Shaped: Thank you ;)
LoveLoverGrl: Thanks so much! :D
Fprmr1: Thank you :D
animeartist123: Thank you! :)
Jace'sVampiress97: Did I? :O Woopsies, I need to revise my chapters more than once from now one hehe :p Thanks for pointing that out! I fixed it!
Pikachufan44: Thank you very much! I'm glad you like them! :D
Tiger Priestess: You first couple of questions will be answered in this chapter. As for the one about Drew changing into an Absol, you'll find out eventually. Thanks for reading. :)
PokemasterHAHAHAYayGyrados: I'll try my best to do that! I'm not very familiar with the Unova region pokémon so I can't guarantee that they'll appear much in any of my pokémon fanfiction. :\
Absol chapter 3
The coordinators are allowed to leave the next day after the contest. Another ship has come to take them home, but I don't board it because I decided that I want to stick around for a while on this one. It's freezing cold where I live now, so I don't mind getting another three days away from the cold. I never have gotten along well with it since even the slightest chilly breeze could get me shivering like there was no tomorrow. Three more days apart from it is three days of bliss.
In addition to wanting time away from the cold, I'm also staying on this cruise ship to make sure that I don't see Drew. If the other coordinators are leaving, then I'll bet the diamond encrusted trophy that I won last night that he must be as well. A part of me tells me to leave on the ship and talk to him, but an even bigger part tells me not to. I don't think I could stand to be near him again. Not with the mystery and uncertainty hanging over us whenever we're together. I'm probably missing out on the only chance to talk to him again for another Arceus-knows-how-many years, but I can't bring myself to care right now. I got along fine the past eight years, so I'm sure I'll get along just the same from now on.
The other part of me says probably not. I tell her to shut up.
I bounce lightly a couple of times on the diving board I am on before I dive into the large pool on the deck of the ship. Plunging into the water, I touch the bottom of the pool with the tips of my fingers before kicking back to the surface. The sun greets me when I resurface and I smooth my hair back and away from my face. The heat feels good on my back so I allow myself some time to soak up the rays as I lean back against the side of the pool. Out of my peripheral vision, I see a few guys watching me from their seats as I crane my neck back and expose my chest area. One of them even widens his eyes. I immediately climb out of the pool to wrap a towel around myself and begin to head into the ship. I hear a few words of dismay from the guys, but I ignore them and keep walking so that I can get to my cabin to change. As for what I'll do after that, I don't quite know yet.
"You know, you can't go around looking that alluring," a voice says. "It shouldn't be legal."
I turn to find the owner of the voice and discover Alec walking towards me. One corner of his lips is curved up in a friendly smirk. My eyebrow cocks at the sight of him. "Alec? What are you still doing here? I thought you left with the other coordinators."
"I could ask you the same question."
"Alright then. I'm just staying here to avoid the cold. Now your turn."
"I'm here to ask you to be my date tonight," he smiles.
"Tonight?" I ask, my eyebrow cocking again. "For what?"
"A cocktail party of some sorts at the restaurant we performed in yesterday," he informs me. Then his navy eyes widen innocently in question. "You'll go with me, right?"
I can't help but smile at his childish expression as I answer, "Sure, I'll be your date." Why not? It'll give me something to do instead of lying in my bed all night. I've got a spare dress anyways, might as well put it to good use.
"Why don't you come wait for me inside while I change?" I suggest once we reach my cabin door. Just as I expect, he doesn't decline my offer and steps in. It occurs to me after he does that it's probably a bad idea to let a guy I've only known for less than 24 hours into my room. I'm slightly wary of him after I close the door, but I convince myself that it's no big deal. Just so long as he doesn't expect or try anything then I'll be alright. I can feel him eying me rather hungrily though as I retrieve a change of clothes that's more suitable to be wearing around a cruise ship instead of a red bikini. I hurry to get dressed in the bathroom so that we can get out of my room.
"I'm thinking we should go get something to eat," I muse after walking back out. "What do you think?"
Alec smiles at me and stands up from the chair that he was occupying. He gestures at the door. "I'm thinking the same thing."
"Then let's go," I smile back and walk to the door. The past repeats itself when the person I see turning the corner of the hallway makes my breath hitch and my heart skip a beat. Why am I even surprised? Of course Arceus would be cruel enough to keep him on the cruise ship.
"Hey May," he greets with barely-there surprise as he comes up to me, as if he knew I'd be on the ship. Somehow, I think he did.
"Hi Drew, you're still on the ship," Alec says cheerily before I can after coming out from my room behind me. He places a gentle hand on my back to move me out of the way in order for him to close the door. His touch makes me slightly uncomfortable so I step closer to Drew whose face has clouded over with chagrin.
"Yep, I'm still here. I see you are, too," he replies coolly. Then he diverts his emerald gaze down to me. "Would you mind grabbing something to eat with me? I'd like to catch up with you."
"I'm afraid I already asked her," Alec inserts, once again in place of me. It's really starting to bug me, to be honest. "We were just on the way down to the court before you showed up."
"I was talking to May. Since when do you have the right to speak for her?" Drew snaps angrily.
Alec smirks at him cockily in response. Something about that smirk just makes something boil inside of me. "Since we—"
"Enough," I cut in with an eye roll. There, let him get a taste of what it feels like to be interrupted. "Sorry Alec, but I think I'd actually like to catch up with Drew."
It's Drew's turn to smirk cockily at Alec whose smirk has just disappeared. Just to hit two pidgeys with one stone, I add, "I'll see you tonight." Sure enough, Drew's smirk sort of falls. Alec nods his approval at my promise and walks past Drew with his cocky smirk back on his face. I start heading down the hallway in the direction of the elevator. I don't bother to wait for Drew, but I walk slow enough for him to be able to catch up with ease.
"I feel like you're trying to avoid me," he murmurs after a moment.
"I tend to become rather foreign around someone I haven't talked to in eight years," I retort without thinking. My voice sounds a little harsher than I'd intended, even in my ears. I don't know if it's the tone or the words that makes him flinch, but he does. He glances away briefly which almost makes me feel bad until he looks back at me with a little bit of anger in his eyes. This, of course, angers me as well.
"So, you're foreign around someone you've known for ages but you can be overly friendly and comfortable around someone you've just met less than twenty-four hours ago? What kind of logic is that?" he asks bitterly.
"If you're referring to Alec, what makes you think I just met him? Maybe I've known him for as long as I've known you and we've been keeping in contact."
The hurt returns to his eyes again, but I'm not really giving an ounce of care anymore. "I have a bad feeling about him...I feel like he's just trying to get you into bed. Just...try to keep your distance," he tells me.
The audacity of him to say such a thing! I stop walking and snap around to look at him. "What makes you think you have the right to tell me what to do?" I nearly scream.
"I'm only trying to warn you!"
"And you've insulted me. Why do you even care about this anyways? It's my personal business. Butt out!"
"I care about your personal business because I care about you."
I laugh at his ridiculous statement. As if he still cares about me. Now, I'm beginning to think that he's never cared about me to begin with. "If you cared about me, you wouldn't have left," I spit out. With that, I turn back away from him and storm down the hall.
"May!" I hear him call behind me. "Can we please just talk?"
I angrily snap back around to face him and fire out a string of questions to respond to his. "Talk?" I ask incredulously. "About what? What's there to talk about Drew? What's there to talk about after eight years of no contact? You want to talk now? Then where were you when I wanted to talk in those eight years?"
He's silent for a moment, staring at me with his sad eyes and pain etched across his face. I take the time that he's speechless and turn on my heel to walk down the hallway from him. I don't even bother to go looking for Alec.
I just want some time to myself for now.
Night has arrived much too early tonight. As much as I'd like to tell Alec that I'm not in the mood to attend the party, I can't bring myself to do it. I'm too lazy to go find him anyways and I've never been the one to back out of plans at the last minute. So, instead, I'm in my bathroom pulling on a strapless wine-colored cocktail dress. I honestly don't care how I look tonight so I don't even bother to put on any makeup aside from mascara. It occurs to me as I'm walking to the door that I'll probably make it to the restaurant before Alec does, but I honestly don't care about that either. If anything, it's what I want. I'd like a little bit of extra time off from him tonight.
But of course I'm not that lucky.
"May! You're ready already?" Alec exclaims when he sees me emerging from my room. He was just coming around the corner, too! If only I'd waited longer to step out. I greet him as kindly as I can and grudgingly follow him into his room when he suggests that I wait for him there. After he emerges from the bathroom, I make an effort to compliment him on how "dashing" he looks being dressed in an all black formal attire. To be honest though, I don't think he looks dashing at all. Just incredibly arrogant and unbearing.
"Let's go," he says with a childish smile and extends his hand. I try to take it with the nicest smile I can manage and begin to walk with him down to the restaurant.
Alec and I are greeted rather enthusiastically once we enter the restaurant. At first, everyone is simply intending to congratulate me on winning the contest, but when they see our intertwined hands, they begin to question about our relationship status.
"Are you guys dating?" a girl with the most mystifying purple eyes ask me. Her skin is so light that they practically pop out of her skull like amethysts. I'm too stunned for the moment to realize that I'm supposed to be answering the question. Alec beats me to it though.
"I really admire her," he says, giving my hand a squeeze, "But it's much too early for me to expect her to want to be in a relationship with me. As for now, I'd just like to enjoy a party with her as my date." With that, he pulls me away from the crowd.
"You handled that well," I tell him after he leads me to a table for refreshments. He shrugs while pouring me a glass of punch. "I'm used to it with the press being on my case all the time," he says. I can't decide if there's something cocky in this response or not.
We spend most of the night eating, spending time with Alec's friends—all of which I don't know at all—and dancing on the dance floor that wasn't present last night. He's pretty considerate throughout the night by making sure that his attention is on me so that I don't feel left out. He even gets me my food from the buffet instead of me having to do it. In return, I hold onto his hand through it all.
Once the time for the final dance of the night comes, Alec and I step onto the dance floor. His arms instantly go around my waist while my hands only go on his shoulders. The music playing is a pleasant melody with romantic lyrics that makes me a little sleepy. Our feet sway to the rhythm.
"Did you enjoy your time tonight?" he asks a quarter way into the dance. I nod in response and give him a smile. "I did, thanks for asking me to come," I say truthfully. I did actually have a pretty fun night.
"Well then," he mutters, his voice dropping to a low, seductive whisper as he leans into my ear. "Would you consider coming up to my room later on tonight?"
There goes my fun night.
So that was what tonight was all about? A plot to soften me up so that I'd get right into bed with him? How revolting of him. Drew was right all along; he was just trying to get me into bed. I'm suddenly so disgusted that my dinner threatens to come back up my throat. Just when I'm starting to push away from the jerk, there's a warm hand on my back. By the darkening of Alec's face, I know who it is right away. How is it that he always has such impeccable timing?
"I don't think May has any intention of going to your room tonight," Drew says coldly from behind me, his hand still on my back.
"Since when do you have the right to speak for her?" Alec demands angrily, using Drew's exact words from this afternoon. His arms tighten around my waist possessively. I squirm uncomfortably.
"Why don't you ask her then?"
Both pair of eyes turn to me. The awkward feeling of being put on the spot washes all over my body and I feel like vomiting again. It's not a hard decision though. Spend the night in Alec's room or leave with Drew right now.
I choose the latter.
"Drew may not have the right to speak for me," I say while pulling away from Alec, "But he's right; I have no intention of going to your room tonight."
"Exactly. So don't ever attempt to get her into bed again or else I'll make sure you'll be incapable of fathering children for the rest of your life."
After the threat, Drew wraps his hand around my wrist and pulls me off the dance floor. Never have I ever seen him so angry before in my life. He's actually scary enough in this rage that a simple glare from him is enough to get Alec to back away for good.
For some reason though, I'm not the least bit scared. Even when he continues to keep his hand firmly around my wrist to tow me out of the restaurant and into the elevator, I'm not the least bit afraid of him at all. It isn't until we get out of the elevator that I realize we're not heading to my cabin. The corridor we're going down isn't familiar to me at all so I suspect that we may be going to his cabin. My suspicion's confirmed when he slides the key card into the lock. Once again, I note how relaxed I am. I'm not even the least bit nervous when I follow him into his room.
The second we enter his room, Drew lets go of my hand so that he can run it through his hair beside the bed. As he does that, I close the door behind me and take a few steps out from the shadows. I wait patiently for him to turn around to look at me. His eyes widen in surprise as if he's just now remembering that I'm in his room.
"Sorry for that," he mutters. Remnants of his fury is still in his eyes. "I just...got so angry when I heard him ask such a thing of you. For him to think that he could ever have you in that type of way just...I just lost it."
"I know," I whisper with an understanding nod. Then I sigh. "I'm sorry, too."
His emerald eyes shoot toward me with his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "You're sorry? For what?"
"For not listening to you when you told me to keep my distance away from Alec," I state truthfully, sighing again. "And for getting so angry with you when you wanted to talk earlier."
I watch as Drew shakes his head at my words. "No. If anything, I should be sorry. I'm the one who left all of those years."
Silence hangs over us for a while, words absent just so we can look into each other's eyes at each other. I search his deep emerald green orbs while he stares into my sapphire blues with them. In this moment of silence, all anger I have been feeling toward him evaporates. There's no more resent toward him for leaving me without a warning. For staying away from me without any sort of communication for eight years. All that's left is this warm feeling in my stomach and an ache in my chest as I stare into the eyes of my best friend.
And then I realize that I miss him. I've always missed him, and I still miss him, even though we're in the same room. I miss him so much that it hurts, wrenching my heart in the most painful way possible. We're only a yard away from one another and even that hurts me. My feet automatically cross the distance to get to him, leaving only a foot between us.
"Why'd you leave Drew?" I ask him in a voice that barely qualifies as a whisper. He hesitates to answer for what seems to be the longest time ever. Or maybe it's just my longing to hear his answer that makes the moment he hesitates seem much longer than it really is. I have been waiting for this for eight years after all.
"I left...because I found myself growing too attached to you," he begins slowly. "I was growing so attached to you that it began to get in the way of my goal of becoming a top coordinator. Ever since the moment I decided I wanted to make coordinating my career, getting to the top had always been my goal. I worked hard and strived to become the best. Every obstacle I came across, I would always get myself through it. I knew what my goal was, and I focused entirely on reaching it. I made sure that I had nothing and no one to distract me from doing so," his voice drops to murmur as he said the next sentence, "I just never predicted that you would."
I stay silent, wanting to speak up but wanting him to go on at the same time. After a moment, he does.
"When I first met you, it never occurred to me that you'd be one. I honestly considered you another rival when I first saw you on that beach in Slateport, another coordinator I needed to beat to get to the top. But when we went from rivals to friends—to best friends—everything changed. I didn't want to beat you anymore. In fact, I wanted to help you to increase your chances of beating me. I was feeling myself slip. I was getting to the point where I was purposely losing contests just so I could avoid having to face you. To risk the chance of beating you. I was losing sight of what my goal was."
I had to interrupt him then. "But why didn't you just tell me? You didn't have to leave! We could've worked something out—"
"Like what? Take turns with each contest? May, not only would that have held me back, but it would have held you back as well. I couldn't do that. How could I ask that of you? How could I ask the girl I was falling in love with to hold herself back because of my own struggles?"
I wasn't expecting that. "Wh—what?"
"I was falling in love with you," he repeats, his eyes smoldering with such passion and sincerity that I'm left with no way to question the truth in his words. "I was falling in love with you then, and I'm in love with you now. I still am, even after all those years. I kept myself away with the hope that that would change, but it didn't. Not seeing didn't make me forget you; it only made me miss you more. I missed you so much that my life became agonizing because you were no longer in it. When I found out about this contest, I knew for a fact that you were going to be here so I had to come see you again. To tell you why I left. To apologize for leaving...to tell you that I love you, and I want you back in my life again...and that I hope you'll let me back in yours, too."
His hands grab mine, closing the final bit of distance between us while I scrutinize his face with my eyes. "Can you forgive me for being so stupid?" he whispers. His eyes bore into mine as he waits for my answer. The one I give him isn't one that either of us expects.
My lips press to his and he kisses me back feverishly after a moment. His lips on my lips, that's the only thought in my head. The kiss starts out gentle at first, as if our lips are just getting to know each other (which, in a way, they are considering it's our first kiss) but after he pulls back to look at me, a flame lights inside of his eyes. When we press our lips back together again, all of the lust and desire pours out. We stand in each other's arms, hungrily ravishing one another's mouths in a passionate kiss to make up for all of the time that was lost.
We kiss for a while until I have to pull away to catch my breath. Even then, his lips don't leave my skin. They move down to my neck, planting soft kisses over the skin as goosebumps raise underneath their touch. My hands slide down to his chest. Before I can even get a button undone, he pulls back to look at me. I'm surprised to see just how much passion is in his eyes—how can he contain it all in him?—but there's uncertainty as well. His voice is husky when he tells me, "May, I need to know how far you're willing to take this. I don't want you to regret anything."
My voice is steady and sure when I respond, because I am absolutely sure that I mean every word that I say. "The only thing I regret—and will ever regret—was all of the time that was lost between us," I tell him, "I don't want anymore time apart from you Drew."
One of his masculine hands reach up to cup my face, his thumb stroking across my cheek. He leans closer to me so that his breath fans my face as he whispers remorsefully, "I wasted so much time."
"Then let's start making up for it now," I whisper back, and my lips press back to his. He doesn't stop me this time when I reach back up to the collar of his shirt. My fingers successfully undo every last button, leaving the shirt open. As I run my hand down his chest, his hands go up to slide down the zipper of my dress.
After the piece of fabric falls to the floor, the rest just follows on its own accord.
Author's Note: If the sex scene seemed a little bit familiar, then you've probably read the Contestshipping fanfiction, You're Not Alone, from the Cadence Of Their Fear trilogy here on fanfiction by the very talented Glory For Sleep. Yes, that scene was inspired by that story, but there is a difference between that scene and my scene. The Cadence Of Their Fear trilogy contains three of my favorite Contestshipping stories here on fanfiction so of course I'd be inspired by it. Be sure to check it out if you haven't already. :) Hope you enjoyed, please review! Now that midterms are out of the way, hopefully I'll be able to update every week!