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.

I'm sure I made a lot of you hate me for killing Drew...yeah, I definitely just killed him off so that his spirit can look after May on her journey...I'm sorry guys. :\

JUST KIDDING. Lol! How much would you guys hate me if that were actually the case? Hehehe, you silly gooses and your reviews. xD I hope you guys enjoy this chapter knowing that Drew isn't dead. Happy reading, please review!

Responses to Reviews...
chocolatehell: Lol, sorry about that. I hate them, too. :p I'll try not to leave you guys with another cliffhanger anymore. :)
LoveLoverGrl: What the?: Drew drowned and died. How the?: He leapt into a rushing river to save poor little Lillipup. Why the?: Because I'm a cruel person who likes to make the type of stuff happen to the characters in my stories. :D Thanks for the rating!
Palkia's Princess: Duh! That's why he's not going to die. :D
LiteBulb: Thanks!
Obviously Citra: Haha, that's what I was going for!
Claudette14: Hehe, wasn't he so brave? :D
misspokemonpro: Here's the next chapter. :)
The Last Poison Apple: Oh, I could've...but I didn't! :D
Pear-Shaped: Thanks! He's not dead, don't worry! Well, he is, but he won't stay dead! xP
Fprmr1: Haha, did it really? I guess it was pretty similar to a Twilight moment, but I was actually thinking of Gale, Katniss, and Peeta from the Hunger Games when I was writing it. Have you ever read that trilogy? You should if you haven't! I'm obsessed with it. :)
And they just left the Pokémon Center! I wrote that they left Mulberry City in the morning! Lol, and when you're in such a dangerous situation, your brain might not always work so logically. :p
Jace'sVampiress97: I know, I'm breaking the poor girl. :( Unfortunately, it's part of my story plot. Anyways, about the part you pointed out, I just added that last sentence because it ended the paragraph better. The paragraph just didn't sound right leaving it off at "vice versa", you know? Thanks for pointing it out though. :)
Namicitaable: Yeah, he does. :\ Maybe I'll write a Hoennshipping fanfiction so that he actually gets May? I don't know. Thanks very much though! :)
EeveeTransformed: What if I told you he really was? You'd probably hate me even more...but of course I wouldn't do that to you. ;D I really wanted to update sooner this week because I didn't want to leave everyone with such a crazy cliffhanger, but I was way too busy! I had to study for tests (I literally had one every day of the week!) and for my midterms next week and I had to write the next chapter of my other fanfiction, Absol, so I just didn't have time! I'm sorry! Here it is on schedule, though! Do I still get cookies? :3
Shadow Lillies: Lol, Brianna...
Pokegirl4896: Here it is! :D
LuvAllPokemon: LOLOLOLOL! I laughed the hardest when I read this review! You're so cute! :D Don't hurt me though! x3
Pikachufan44: Thank you for your wonderful compliment! I'm beyond flattered! Thank you so much! :')
Monochrome13: I know. The poor girl. D:
Heatherflower: Thanks so much! Here's the next chapter. :)

Love Unexpected chapter 15

This is all your fault, May Maple. If it weren't for you, this wouldn't have happened. Drew wouldn't have drowned to save Lillipup. He wouldn't be dead. It's all your fault. He's never coming back now, and it's all because of you.

The agonizing words echoed in her head over and over again, joining with her conscience to haunt her with the cruel truth of Drew's death. She pulled back to stare at his face, pale and still. Then his eyes, lifeless and dark. The light had been entirely drained from them. He really was gone.

Drew Hayden was gone, and she had single-handedly caused his death.

She couldn't believe it. Didn't want to believe it. How could he be gone? Just like that? How was it possible? There was no way that it was possible. Arceus wasn't that cruel. Drew had done nothing wrong, so why would Arceus take him away? How could Arceus take him away?

Anger suddenly surged through her. Bad things only happened to bad people. Drew wasn't a bad person. He wasn't, so why was he dead? Her defiant nature refused to accept it.

With newfound determination, fueled with anger at the unfairness of the situation and the fear of losing him, she raised her fists into the air and slammed them down onto his chest. She even sent a hand smacking across his cheek. His hard, freezing cold cheek.

"Drew!" she cried. "I know you're still there! I know you can hear me! You're not dead, so wake up! You can't die, you hear me? Wake up!"

She angrily switched back to performing compressions over the area on his chest where she had been pounding. She pressed down once, twice, a third time, and a couple times more until she bent down to breath into his mouth. When that didn't work the first time, she grew impatient and went back to the pounding. One pound, two pounds, three pounds...

Another hard pound later, Drew finally coughed out a fountain full of water.

"Were you—the one who—kept hit—ting me so hard?" he sputtered weakly in between coughs.

"Drew!" May cried in a shaky voice, an incredibly large smile breaking across her face.

Sweet relief and pure happiness engulfed her entirely the second she heard Drew's voice again. He was alive! The simple sight of seeing his emerald eyes become full of life again and the onslaught of relief were enough for her eyes to well up with tears all over again. She reached down to hug his head to her chest.

"Thank Arceus, you're alive!" she exclaimed.

More coughing erupted from Drew's mouth before he answered her. One of his hands reached up weakly to wrap around her wrist.

"May," he said, and then coughed. "You're kind of choking me."

"Sorry," she laughed, her voice still shaky with relief.

Holding his head away from her, she brushed his hair away from his face to get a better look of his eyes. She wanted to confirm the fact that he was actually alive, that it wasn't all a dream. To see if they contained any life.

They did. The light was back, making his eyes shine in the sunlight like emeralds in a jewelry store. They were so beautiful.

"Let's get you to a hospital," she said.

Wasting no time, she waved Blaziken over and helped him into its arms. Together, they took Drew to the nearest hospital in Lavender City, which was thankfully only a mere mile away. At the first sight of him when they entered the building, a team of nurses immediately brought out a stretcher and took him into a room. Some time passed until the doctor emerged from the door after checking up on him.

"Everything's fine with Mr. Hayden. He swallowed a lot of the river water, but most of it was coughed out. Thank goodness you were able to save him in time. He should be able to leave the hospital tomorrow morning," the doctor informed her. "He's very weak now because he caught a bit of a cold, so it's best for him to be getting some rest. Maybe you could go grab something to eat and come back later?"

"Yeah, I think I'll just go get some food down at the cafeteria," May responded with a smile, feeling more relief.

"Would you like a nurse to show you the way?"

"No thanks, I'll manage," she insisted. Then, she thanked him for taking care of Drew before finding her way to the hospital's canteen on the bottom floor.

There, she opted to get a cup of noodles from the vending machine instead of ordering something from the friendly man behind the counter. After filling the cup up with hot water from the water cooler, she found an empty table to sit at by the window.

It took her a short amount of time to finish the noodles. There wasn't much of it to begin with, so it had only taken her ten minutes to be done with the food. Drew obviously hadn't gotten enough rest in that short amount of time, so she decided to venture out to explore the city.

It ended up being a stupid idea in the end, though, because she wasn't in the mood to do anything other than sulk. The memory of Drew's near-death experience was still in her head, haunting her and sending a jolt of fear through her every couple of minutes. She kept thinking that he had actually died and that the part where she and Blaziken had taken him the hospital was all a dream.

Thankfully it wasn't. He really was alive and well, sleeping soundly in the hospital bed after she returned to his room a couple hours later when the night had set in.

The room that he was sleeping in was completely silent aside from the ticking clock mounted on the wall across from his bed. There was something peaceful about the way the walls were painted a light green, with the only source of light coming from the single lamp on the end table beside the bed. That was probably the reason why the guy was sleeping so soundly. Either that, or he was just exhausted.

Then again, of course he was. He had just saved Lillipup from a rushing river and come back alive after drowning. Anyone would be exhausted after that.

After closing the door as carefully and silently behind her as possible, May crept over to the chairs that were pressed against the wall. She brought one over to the bed right in front of his legs and sat down in it slowly, watching his face at the same time to make sure she didn't wake him. It startled her when he suddenly opened his mouth and began to mutter something, though his eyes didn't open. She hesitantly asked him to repeat himself when she didn't hear him the first time.

"Water," he muttered more clearly. "I want water."

"Oh, okay. Hang on—I'll go get some for you," she told him and stood up from the chair.

Just as she was turning away from the bed, his hand grabbed hers. Surprisingly, he was still asleep.

"Don't go, May," he breathed, his eyes still clamped shut. Only his lips were moving. "Don't leave me...Arceus, I like you so much. Don't ever leave me."

May's breath caught in her throat. Did she hear him right? He liked her? Since when did he like her? It was the most absurd thing she had ever heard. Andrew Hayden liking her? No way. He was just sleep talking. She couldn't take his subconscious words seriously.

"Drew, stop playing around," she told him, trying to gently pry her hand from his grip. "Drew."

Said guy slowly began to open his eyes. Even though the room was only dimly lit, he still squinted. A groan slipped through his lips as he tried to orient himself. After blinking a few times, he was able to turn his head in May's direction. His groggy face was impassive at first, but after noticing how awkward she looked, his eyes slightly widened.

"I didn't...really say what I think I said in my sleep, did I?" he asked her hesitantly.

"Yeah...you did," May confirmed. She awkwardly shifted her weight from one foot to the other, while crossing her arms over her chest.

"Oh," he breathed, glancing down for a brief second.

May waited for him to tell her that everything he had said wasn't true. That every word had been of his subconscious imagination. He hadn't just told her he liked her in his sleep.

But he didn't. He only shrugged before he looked back up at her.

"Well, that's convenient. Now, I don't have to try to find the right time to tell you anymore," he said, not seeming even the slightest bit abashed.

May continued to wait for him to say just kidding. Seconds kept passing, but the words still hadn't come out of his mouth. Sometime after a minute passed, she finally began to think that there was a possiblity that he just might not say them. And he really didn't.

"Uh...I should probably be getting you that water you wanted," she muttered. "I'll be right back."

Drew remained lying on his back, waiting for her to return with his glass of water. Part of him worried that she had just left him and wasn't going to come back, but an even bigger part knew that she wouldn't. When she finally did after a couple of minutes, he gave her a small smile, which she half-heartedly returned.

"Here's your water," she said, while handing him the glass of water.

"Thanks," he replied, sitting up before he took a sip.

The warm liquid spilled into his mouth, wetting the inside of it and quenching his thirst. Though it was just water, it just tasted so incredibly good that he couldn't stop gulping it down. The glass was entirely empty in less than ten seconds.

May blinked in surprise. "Do you want another glass?" she asked him.

Drew shook his head and placed the empty cup on the end table beside him right next to the lamp. He turned to her afterward.

"So, I really did tell you that I liked you in my sleep, right?" he asked.

May swallowed and diverted her gaze to the ground. Her head gave a slight nod.

"And you're probably thinking that it was all just some delusional-dreaming speech that my subconscious mind came up with?"

"Uh...yeah."

"Well, if that's the case, then you're wrong," he said simply.

May's breath caught in her throat. She dreaded his next words.

"I'm a pretty straightforward person, so instead of trying to convince you that I was lying, I'm just going to be honest and say that I was telling the truth," he affirmed. "Even if I was still sleeping at the time, it was still the honest truth. I do like you...a lot. Which is why I didn't think twice before jumping into that crazy river to save Lillipup."

May remained silent, keeping her eyes on the ground. She didn't know what she could possibly say to him. No words came to her, and he sighed at her silence.

"Look, I'm not telling you this so that I can force you to be with me just because I risked my life to save Lillipup," he told her. "I'm only telling you this because I honestly wanted you to know. I've been wanting to tell you for the longest time already, but I never knew how to tell you because I didn't know how you'd react. Now—since my mouth worked ahead of my brain—I can finally tell you that I like you a lot, and that I have for a while."

It took May a moment to gather up the courage to ask him how long "a while" was exactly. She hated when he was able to tell her immediately and without hesitation that "a while" was since the moment they first met.

"I don't know what drew me to you—no pun intended—but I fell for you the second I saw you," he said. "Maybe it was those beautiful eyes of yours or the way that you showed absolutely no interest in me, unlike every other girl in my life, but I haven't been able to get you out of my head ever since. Even when we're together like this, you're the only person on my mind. It's just some sort of undeniable attraction to you that makes me enjoy every minute that I'm with you and hope in those minutes that you feel the same way."

May's mouth just refused to function properly and words refused to form on her tongue. She hadn't expected such a confession, nor had she realized that his feelings for her were so strong. It was truly unexplainable.

How could he possibly harbor such feelings for her? How could he just come out and voice them in such a bold and unabashed manner?

Her eyes struggled to pull themselves back up to look at his face. She found that he had been watching her the entire time, his emerald green eyes smoldering with such sincerity that it was difficult to make eye contact. The atmosphere had gotten so unbearably awkward.

Her mouth opened and closed a few times but no words came out.

"Okay, now that the awkward confession part is over and you can't seem to think of something to say, let's talk about something else," Drew suggested when May continued to remain quiet. "Three days into our journey and I already have a near-death experience, huh?"

"It's not funny," May snapped. Hearing him joke about the most fearful event in her life angered her enough for her to find her voice again. "You put me through hell."

"I'm sorry," he said with a smile. It gave him a strange, heartwarming sensation to know that she cared about him.

Her eyes softened. "Thank you for saving Lillipup, by the way. I owe you for that," she promised. Fearing that he was going to make her be with him to repay her debt, she rushed to add, "I'll repay you some way or another...just not the way that you want me to. I can't promise that I'll ever return your feelings."

Drew pressed his lips together into a straight line. Of course he hadn't expected her to have fallen for him immediately after his confession, but it didn't stop the disappointment from washing over him. It was difficult hearing her speak the words of rejection. The only rejection he had ever experienced in his life had come from her. Every ounce had hurt.

"I know, and I'm not asking for that to be my repayment. I don't want your feelings unless they're genuine," he told her. Then, he met her in the eyes with solid determination in his. "But they will be eventually. Maybe not now, or anytime soon, but one day, they will be. You can't promise that they will, but I can promise that I'll be fighting every second of every day until that day comes." He swallowed. "Just don't keep me fighting too long."

May bit the inside of her mouth. She wanted to tell him that she only had feelings for Gary, that her heart had been with him since she was twelve. But for some odd reason, she could't bring herself to do it. She tried to convince herself that it was because that he had just risked his life to save Lillipup. There couldn't be any other reason besides that one.

"Then, I wish you luck," she got herself to say.

Drew continued to stare at her, while the clock on the wall across from them struck ten. Seeing this, he insisted that she head to the Pokémon Center immediately if she wanted a room to sleep in for the night. Another heart-warming emotion spread over him when she offered to stay for the night if he wanted her to, but he didn't agree to it. He knew that it was only out of the obligation she felt for repaying him for saving Lillipup. It wasn't a genuine offer, so he didn't want it.

"It's alright, just come get me tomorrow morning. You need some sleep in a proper bed," he insisted.

May nodded slowly after eying him and the door, torn with having to choose between the two before deciding on the latter. He was right. She needed to sleep in a proper bed.

"Alright then—I'll see you in the morning," she told him, and began to make her way to the door, making sure to wish him a good night before shutting it behind her.

After she left, Drew switched off the light and wriggled himself on the bed so that he was laying on his back. His eyes shut when his head hit the pillow, but he didn't fall asleep despite how tired he was. An odd, freeing sensation was running through his body as well as the sting of rejection. It hurt to know that she didn't return his feelings at the moment, but he knew for a fact that she would eventually. And even if her heart still belonged to Gary, he was willing to fight for her. Gary had stolen it, so he was going to fight to win it back. No matter what it took.

As of the moment, he was going to wait. Wait for her to arrive the next morning to check him out of the hospital. Wait for her to return his feelings. No matter how long it took, he was going to wait. Every ounce of patience he had was going to go into waiting for her.

Because she was worth waiting for.

Author's Note: YAY! Drew's alive! And he confessed to May! So much has happened in the past couple of chapters, eh? Please tell me your thoughts in the reviews! Thanks for reading. :)