Update April 2013: This chapter has been updated and revised from its original version. Past errors have been fixed and adjustments have been made but the plot of the chapter, characters, and events have remained the same.
Guess what tomorrow is? CHRISTMAS DAY! :D Which means today is Christmas Eve which means I get to wish you all a Happy Christmas Eve and an early Merry Christmas! I hope that you all have a wonderful holiday filled with happiness and cheer and all things good. For those of you enjoying a winter break like I am, I hope you all have a safe and fun break. :) I'm going to hibernate like there's no tomorrow. xD
Also, I'd like to give a double thank you this time for all of the reviews that you guys have left because, thanks to them, my cold's been getting better! I have no idea how, but it may because of the smiles that they put on my face. Happiness is one of the best medicines after all. ;D Anyways, I'll let you read this chapter now. This will be the last one before the one where Drew and May finally set off on their journey! Thank gosh because I've been itching to write about their travels for the longest time. Hope you all enjoy :) I love you all, happy holidays and happy reading! Please review!
Responses toReviews...
xxTheBloodyRosexx: I knoooow. D: I'm always so mean to him without wanting to, or meaning to. Sorry Brendan! But thank you! My cold's getting better now. :)
chocolatehell: I'm sorry Samia. :( I don't understand why Brendan always ends up being the victim...O.o And I don't think I've directly mentioned it (or maybe I did and I just forget :P) but May's just not so thrilled about the idea because she didn't willing say that she wanted to travel with him; it wasn't her decision, she was just forced to because she lost the battle to him. But now, she's fine with it since she just turned down the chance to get rid of him. Whether or not she'll regret it in the future, you'll have to read and see. :)
ponyiowa: Thanks! :D
LoveLoverGrl: Not exactly...some girls are lucky enough to have a couple of guys liking them at the same time? May just happens to be one of them? O.o
EeveeTransformed: I'm sorry! I'll find him someone, I promise! xD
Blademon: Oh...well, don't I feel sheepish. :3 And lol at what you said about Brendan! Haha, the poor guy. xD Thanks for reading!
Fprmr1: Okay, since you reviewed once for each chapter within one week (one day actually, thanks! :D) then I'm going to try my best to respond to each one in this response the best I can. Here we go!
I think every school has a teacher like Mr. Zion; I wonder why it's so inevitable that school's hire teachers like that. Don't they know that they scare their students? And hah! I would've went a little more crazy...something along the lines of mad. xD
Thanks! I love describing chapters! It's probably from my love of the games as a little girl; I was so obsessed. As a matter of fact, I still go through some random obsession phases with my Emerald version. :P
Omigod, ramen noodles are probably one of the best things in existence! The spicy kind has always been my favorite! I need a guy like Drew to come make me some while I'm still recovering from my cold hah. ;D
I'll have to go read your story to know what you mean hah. Poor Brendan ;D
I'm sorry for making you cry! Sorry! Dx And yeah, Skyler is one of those girls that I don't really like. The conceited, drama queen-type. Feel free to feed her that cake hehehehe xD
I never was a big fan of Hoennshipping to be honest. :\ I was starting to feel something for it though as I was writing this fanfiction, but Contestshipping and Brunetteshipping will always be my favorite shippings that involve May (Contestshipping being the first of course :) And oh my...your poetry is...amazing. That was really deep. I don't think I could ever write anything like that, care to teach me? O.o
Roses are amazing. I felt bad for making Gary and Brendan beat Drew to giving May a rose since they are his signature and all. :P Hah, oh well. And you guys will be hearing from every single character that you listed (including Gary and Brendan since they're part of the plot, sorry!).
Now that I've responded to every single one of your reviews, I'd like to thank you for taking the time out of your day to read my fanfiction and to leave a review for every single chapter! Thanks so much! I hope you get better soon! Glad to have you as a regular for this fanfiction. Thanks again! :D
The Last Poison Apple: Hehe okay. *gives award to May's conscience* :)
Pokegirl4896: Thank you so much!
misspokemonpro: Thanks, I feel better now. :)
Shadow Lillies: Hehe, here's the next chapter! :D
LuvAllPokemon: Oh...it's okay! ;D Regardless of how much I love Brunetteshipping, I still love Contestshipping more and this still is a Contestshipping fanfic, sorry. Maybe I'll write a Brunetteshipping one in the future after I finish this one. :3
Claudette14:THANKS, IT'S OKAY! JUST SO LONG AS YOU END UP READING AND REVIEWING! YOU GO AHEAD AND READ THAT CHAPTER (you probably already have though)! :D
Isn't it? I love Lillipup! So cute :D And yeah, I'm giving her all the luck haha. Yeah, the time will come eventually. I'll try not to keep everyone waiting so long for that moment. You have a great holiday, too! :D
leotinees: As much as it would frustrate Drew, I can't make that happen. If Brendan's with them, then how could there be any Contestshipping fluff?...Woops, did I say fluff? How'd that get there? xD
Chi-chiwawa: I can't answer your first question because it will spoil the plot. I also can't answer the second one either because, unfortunately for me, you're too smart and guessed the main antagonist of this fanfic. :P Thanks for reviewing anyways! And don't thank me for responding, it's all I can do to repay all of my readers who review. :)
light-chiix3: Aw, thank you so much! I'm glad that my fanfiction means so much to you because your support and reviews mean very much to me! I also want to thank you even more because your review was my 150th review! I was really hoping on getting one final review to reach 150 before I updated tonight and you helped me reach it! Thanks a bunch! And I'm sure you did amazing on your finals; I hope you'll pass with flying colors. :D
Love Unexpected chapter 11
"May, would you hurry up?" Dawn shouted up to the brunette's room window from her seat outside in Brendan's car. In an act of impatience, she even reached over the guy to slam her fist onto the steering wheel, honking the car's horn.
The sudden noise made Brendan and the people who occupied the other car behind them (Marina, Jimmy, Natalie, and Cam) to jump in shock. Paul, who was sitting next to her in the back, merely grunted in aggravation, while his arms still remained crossed over his chest. His stern expression visibly grew even sterner, though, at the unwanted noise. The commotion that the blunette conjured was probably enough to wake up the whole neighborhood.
"I'm coming!" came a growl from outside of the car.
May groggily trudged down her driveway with her beach tote in tow to the black car parked in front of her house. After pulling open the door of the passenger seat, she slid into the seat and slammed it angrily beside her. She then proceeded to rest her head against the window, a scowl evident on her face.
"Whoa! Watch the car! Take your anger out on Dawn, not my wife," Brendan cried in protest.
May ignored his last comment. She did, however, oblige to the part about taking her anger out on Dawn.
"You know, you could've been a little more patient considering the fact that you failed to inform me until this morning that we were headed to the beach two hours earlier than originally planned," she told the girl bitterly.
"Forgive me for wanting to spend as much time together as possible, considering the fact that we're all going our separate ways tomorrow since today's the last day of spring!" Dawn shot back with a pout.
Both May and Paul rolled their eyes in response, but they both empathized with her. They weren't exactly thrilled to separate from their friends either.
Meanwhile, Brendan kept his face impassive, though his hands clenched the steering wheel tighter. Did he really need a constant reminder that he would be separating with May in less than twenty-four hours and that she would be with another guy on her journey?
The answer was no.
He stepped on the pedal, throwing his car into motion without another word.
Since May didn't live quite so far from the beach, the ride only took about an hour and forty-five minutes, but the already sleepy girl managed to fall asleep after the first thirty minutes.
When Brendan's car suddenly grew quiet, everyone glanced at May with amused smiles. She just looked so adorable as she slept with her legs pulled up to her chest and held in place with her arms, her head resting against the car window. They almost didn't have the heart to wake her when they got to the beach parking lot, but they knew that if they just left her in the car, there would be hell to pay later.
"I got this," Brendan mouthed hurriedly when he saw Dawn creeping over to the passenger door.
If she opened it, there would be no guarantee that May would not topple out of the car. He wasn't about to let that happen, so he gestured for the blunette to go on with Paul. Once they were gone, he gently stirred May out of her slumber.
"May," he whispered. "May, wake up. We're here."
A sleepy groan came from behind the girl's closed mouth. She tiredly rubbed her eyes before squinting into the light of the blaring sun. Another groan came from her.
"We're here already?" she asked. "I was enjoying my nap."
"You could always nap on the beach, you know. The sound of the ocean could probably knock you out in seconds."
May hummed thoughtfully, while snuggling further into the leather seat. "But I need to walk in order to get there," she murmured. "I won't be sleepy anymore by the time I'm through walking."
"Would you like me to carry you, then?" Brendan offered with a chuckle.
He watched with amusement as May eyed him jokingly as she "considered" his offer. After a second, she nodded with a childish pout and extended her arms to him. He chuckled again softly as he reached for her bag and slung it over his shoulder along with his own before he leaned down to slip one arm under her legs and one behind her back. He hoisted her up with seemingly no effort on his part and started off in the direction of their group's spot on the beach.
"There you guys are!" Marina exclaimed, when she saw Brendan and May approaching. Her eyebrow raised in question when she saw the girl in Brendan's arms.
"Why are you carrying her, Brendan?" she asked.
"She was afraid she wouldn't be tired anymore by the time she walked down here, so I offered to carry her," he explained, rolling his eyes behind his black sunglasses.
He set May down on one of the beach chaises that Cam, Jimmy, and Paul set up.
Dawn gave a disbelieving laugh and turned to May, who was busy stripping herself of her clothes before she flipped onto her front to take a nap.
"We're at the beach, May. Do you really plan on sleeping the entire time?" she asked the brunette.
"No, just until I've caught up on all of my sleep," May answered. "You guys have fun without me."
With that, she shut her eyes and buried her face into her arms.
"But you haven't even put on any sunscreen yet," Natalie reminded her. "You're going to get burnt."
"Oh, I don't burn, Nat. I'll be fine," May reassured with a nonchalant wave of her hand.
Natalie simply shrugged in a "don't-say-I-didn't-warn-you" type of way before turning to apply sunscreen to her own body.
Sure enough, May woke up thirty minutes later to a burn on the back of her neck when Natalie came up to her after a swim in the ocean.
"I told you so," she said smugly after pressing a finger to the red spot on the back of the girl's neck.
May hissed in pain as her hand flew to cover her neck, while the other released her hair from its bun. Hopefully, the strands would provide a barrier between the burn and any cruel people who would take pleasure in causing her pain, namely her friends.
Thankfully, she had done so just in time. Dawn had been creeping up on her with her fingers out and ready to jab away at the sunburn. Such evil friends she had, May decided.
A few minutes later after May finally went ahead and put a good layer of sunscreen on her body, she joined her friends in the ocean, where they were frolicking about in the crystal clear water. The second she joined them, Brendan and Dawn saw to it that she was immediately dunked, despite her declaration that she wanted to keep her hair dry. Once she resurfaced, she kicked some water in both of their faces and swam away giggling after Brendan gave chase.
For a while, they continued to play together in the water, and even got a chance to play with some of the wailmer that swam up to them. Paul attempted to catch one, but after some scolding from Dawn, he gave up and went back to their spot on the beach to take a nap. He was later joined by the girls, who all insisted that they wanted to tan, so the other boys went off to the boardwalk to get them all some food.
"May," Brendan murmured in her ear after he returned with Cam and Jimmy.
The brunette girl had fallen asleep again as she tanned on her front alongside Paul, who had fallen asleep sitting on a chaise under one of the beach umbrellas. A pair of black shades were over his eyes and his arms were crossed over his chest; he looked very much at ease.
May didn't so much as open her eyes, only burying her face even further into her arms.
Brendan rolled his eyes and discreetly assessed her body. Aside from the red string bikini that the girl was clad in, the rest of her body was left unclothed, exposing glowing skin that was steadily changing into a nice bronze color. He gulped away all of his perverted thoughts and smirked to himself when an idea struck him. He reached down to her hips and counted to three in his head before he gently jabbed her sides with his index fingers.
Sure enough, May jolted out of her sleep with a start.
"Brendan! What's your problem?" she cried, pushing herself up on her knees so that she could reach over to whack him. "I was in the middle of my nap!"
Brendan's hands shot up in the air in a form of surrender, but his body vibrated with his chuckles.
"Sorry, I just wanted you to get some food," he said. "You know how grumpy you get when you miss a chance to eat."
May's eyes widened, all irritation instantly leaving her.
"There's food?" she gasped, and turned in the direction of an inviting aroma. She gasped again and clapped her hands over her mouth dramatically. "There's food! Let me at it!"
"Paul, there's food. Wake up and eat," Dawn said to her boyfriend, while nudging him to wake him up.
When the purple-haired guy didn't move, she nudged him harder. When that didn't work, she just gave up and went to go eat.
Meanwhile, Jimmy had watched the whole attempt. He was suddenly struck with inspiration when Dawn passed him, and tempted with the amount of fun that the inspiration had presented.
He got up from his spot from one of the blankets and made his way over to Paul, bending down so that he was level with his friend's ear. Adopting Dawn's voice, he cooed Paul's name into his ear. Then, he clamped Paul's shoulder with one hand and began to shake him hard enough so that the headphones that Paul had wedged into his ears would pop out.
Paul woke with a start, a grunt escaping from his lips. When he saw Jimmy howling with laughter beside him on the ground, he growled and yanked his shades off. Angrily, he chucked them at Jimmy's head, where they bounced off of his hair and landed in the sand.
"Why would you go through all of that just to wake me up, you jerk?" Paul growled at him.
Jimmy only laughed in response and sat up to throw his arms around his friend.
"Oh Paul, you know I love you," he joked.
Said boy snarled at him. "Get off of me, you fa—"
"Paul!" Dawn snapped before her boyfriend could say the foul word.
Everyone busted out laughing when Paul went on to mutter the word under his breath.
After the exchange, the group hurriedly went to eat their lunches so that they could pack up and head to the boardwalk. Once they got everything that they had brought onto the beach packed up and replaced in the two cars that they had come in, they made their way over to the big boardwalk. There, they enjoyed more food and went on some of the rides that were offered, such as the ferris wheel.
After the sun set, they all made their way back to the cars, where they went through the dreaded goodbye. Tears were shed (by the girls), hugs were shared (excluding Paul, who refused to hug anyone and insisted on keeping a nonchalant face), and promises were made to keep in touch with one another and to meet up as much as possible during their time apart.
The moment was painful, but it was inevitable. No one could believe that that day was the last that they would be spending together for a while. Brendan and Marina even made sure to drive as slowly as possible in order to prolong their time together, but they eventually had to drive in separate directions. Saying goodbye was probably one of the hardest things that they ever had to do.
As Brendan pulled up to Dawn's driveway, the blunette sniffled into her soaked tissue, one of many tissues that she had gone throughout the car ride. Paul was already gone from the car after being dropped off a few minutes ago, so she was without her boyfriend for support. She fought with herself to keep from crying any further as she exited the car.
"I can't believe that this is the last time that we'll ever be together again," she expressed after stifling a hiccup. "Who knows when we'll see each other again."
May immediately got out of the car to pull Dawn in for a long hug. Without a word, she clutched onto her friend as tears fell from her eyes and Dawn's. They held onto one another for what seemed to be eternity; it was much too difficult for them to let go of one another.
But they had to eventually, and when they did, their eyes welled up with tears all over again. Their goodbyes to one another were barely audible before Dawn reluctantly went to her house and May returned to the car. It nearly broke Brendan's heart just by watching them.
The ride back to May's house was a silent one aside from the few comforting words that Brendan had offered to her. However, he wasn't sure whether they were more for her or for himself. It took until they were just one block away from his house for him to remember that, in just a couple of hours, she would be on a ferry headed for the Kanto region...with Drew. That meant that the time left for him to talk May out of traveling with Drew was limited. His minutes were numbered; he had to act fast.
He pulled the car to a stop at the last corner before the block of May's house.
"What's up?" May asked him, her voice kept quiet to prevent any cracking from all of the crying that she had done.
He turned to her with a serious face though the look in his amber eyes was strained.
"Don't travel with him May," he told her.
Her eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "With who?"
"With Drew."
May sighed and bit her lip. "I already told you after graduation—I can't. I lost the battle. He beat me fair and square," she told him.
But Brendan only shook his head as his eyebrows furrowed angrily. The seed to his frustration had been watered. His hands formed crushing binds around the steering wheel as he glared at his feet in the dim lighting of the car.
"You don't have to go through with it, May. He offered you a chance to back out," he forced through his gritted teeth.
"And I already told him that I wasn't going to," she insisted. "I can't go back on my word."
Brendan couldn't hold back from unleashing his anger then.
"Maybe you think you can't, but you sure as hell can in my opinion," he snapped, while turning his head to glare at her. "You're not obligated to travel with him, May! The wager was stupid, and the fact that you're actually going through with it is even more ridiculous."
May was surprised. Brendan had never spoken to her in such a tone or manner before. Where had his sudden attitude come from?
"Can you please try to be reasonable?" she tentatively asked of him. "You know me, Brendan. You know how dedicated I am to making sure that I keep each and every single one of my promises. You know that I couldn't live with myself knowing that I broke a promise."
"So you're saying that you could live with yourself knowing that you're practically killing me by going through with this?" he shot back harshly.
May was taken aback. "Wh-what?" she stuttered in shock. "I'm killing you? How?"
Brendan turned around his seat so that he was facing her completely. All of the anger had left his face, leaving disbelief in its wake. He laughed sarcastically as he shook his head.
"Did you honestly not know all these years May?" he asked.
May was afraid to ask, but she went ahead and did anyways. "Know what?"
She watched as he took a deep breath, looked away, and then back with a strained expression on his face.
"Know that I'm crazy in love with you," he began to admit, and her breath caught in her throat. "I've had these feelings since we were kids, even when we were apart for all of those years, and they've only gotten stronger since. I've tried fighting them—I'm still fighting them—ever since you told me about your feelings for Gary, but they wouldn't go away. Even when I knew that I wouldn't have a chance with you, they refused to go away, and they torture me every day because I have to get through every day knowing that you don't feel the same way for me."
He paused to swallow the lump that had formed in his throat before continuing.
"I hate myself for not being good enough," he went on. "For not being good enough to win your heart. All I ask now is that you not travel with him, but of course, I'm not even good enough to do that. I just hate myself for not being good enough..."
His voice trailed off then, tears forming in his eyes as he rested his forehead on the steering wheel.
May felt to withhold her own tears; she couldn't believe what she was hearing. He hated himself for not being good enough for her? He hated himself for things that were out of his control when she was just sitting there, watching helplessly as he suffered? She was the one breaking his heart and he hated himself for it?
If he hated himself for all of that, then May hated herself even more.
No words came to her until he eventually looked up from the steering wheel and turned to her again. He gave her a strained smile.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything," he apologized.
May finally found her voice again. He was apologizing to her now? The situation was just too ridiculous.
"You're sorry?" she breathed in disbelief, tears spilling from her eyes. "You're sorry, when I'm the one causing all the damage? If either of us should be sorry, it should be me, I—" A sob interrupted her. "I'm sorry, Brendan. I'm so sorry."
Brendan felt a stab of guilt in his chest. He had made her cry. She was sitting in front of him with tears spilling down her face because of him. He had made her cry.
Why did he have to go and open his mouth? He should have just kept his mouth shut; he had been doing a good job of it for four years. Why couldn't he have just kept going?
"May, please don't cry," he begged, his own voice cracking.
His hands automatically reached over to cup her face, his thumbs wiping away the cascading drops of saltwater from her cheeks. When she met his eyes a few seconds later, he stared into them for a few moments—memorizing them—before he leaned forward to kiss her forehead.
His lips lingered on her forehead for what seemed like forever as she sobbed even harder. He just didn't want to pull away, just couldn't pull away. But he had to. He tried to give her a smile when he did after her sobs began to die down.
"We're still friends, right?" he whispered.
May nodded and sniffled. "The best there is," she whispered back, and pulled away from his hands without taking her eyes off of his.
But despite her words, they both knew that a strain had been put on their friendship and that they could never be the same again. How could they be after something like that?
With another sniffle, May turned away from Brendan to hide the oncoming tears that were threatening to spill from her eyes again.
"I can walk home from here," she whispered to him.
Then, without waiting for an answer, turned to open the car door and stepped out into the chilly night air.
"Goodbye Brendan," she said to him before closing the door.
Brendan didn't even bother to stop her as she walked away. With her gone, he could finally let his own tears fall.
May broke into a run toward her house when she knew that she was out of his sight. All she wanted to do at that moment was dash into the shower, crank the faucet to the highest temperature setting, and let the hot water pour down onto her like rain. She hoped that it would burn and wash away all of her troubles while she let out every single tear until she was incapable of shedding anymore. She just wanted to forget the past couple hours, as if they never happened.
She was so lost in her thoughts that she ran straight into the person standing in front of her front door, who had turned around when he heard her approaching footsteps. She pulled back without so much as a yelp, her wet eyes blank and empty.
"Hey, perfect, now I don't have to ring the doorbell," Drew said with a smile, a ferry ticket in his hand. "I was just coming to give you your ferry ticket and..."
Drew suddenly trailed off when he noticed May's tear-soaked cheeks and puffy eyes. His eyes widened in horror as he took in what he was seeing in the dim lighting of the porch lamp.
"Are you crying?" he inquired disbelievingly. "What happened?"
"I-I don't want to talk about it," she croaked so quietly that he didn't hear what she had said.
Drew tentatively asked her to repeat her words.
"I said I don't want to talk about it," she said clearly and louder, frustrated at him for making her repeat herself.
Then, her eyes welled up with tears again and her aggravation dissipated in an instant.
"I don't want to talk about it," she repeated one more time. "I-I just need you Drew," she told him honestly.
The words shocked him into temporary silence. He didn't have time to respond before she threw herself forward and, without warning, launched herself into his arms. There, she allowed her tears to spill over like blood from a wound, just like the one that had just been sliced through her heart.
They fell like raindrops in a storm. A storm just like the one she felt she was trapped in. A storm of sorrow, pain, and unwanted goodbyes.
Author's Note: I'll be honest, my eyes got pretty teary as I was writing this chapter and I may have let one or two tears fall. Poor Brendan...and poor May. :'( I was seriously debating on getting this chapter up after Christmas because this is not something happy and it kind of defeats the purpose of me wishing you all a Merry Christmas. But then I felt bad about going back on my promise to update every Saturday. It would've been different if I had just been to busy to write a chapter to put up, but that wasn't the case. Forgive me if this brought any tears to your eyes, I still hope that you all have a wonderful and happy Christmas! The next chapter will up next Saturday. Can you believe that we're only a week away from 2012? Time went by really quick this year. :O Anyways, I wish you all a Merry Christmas! Hope you had a wonderful Christmas Eve and I hope your day tomorrow will be filled with much happiness and cheer! Thanks for reading, please review! :)
Oh! I'd also like to make an announcement. I will publishing the first chapter of my next Contestshipping fanfiction some time next week! I'm aiming for Wednesday, but the date's not set in stone. I will not be revealing anything about this fanfiction though I will say that it's going to be rated M and the genre is going to be romance/thriller with a little bit of horror...or maybe a lot, I'll see how it goes hah. :P I've never tried writing a horror story before so this will be a oneshot. Please be sure to check it out when I get it up and please give it as much as support as you have been giving this fanfiction! Thanks in advance! I'll try to make it as good as possible for you lovely people. Hope I don't disappoint! :D