Update July 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.

Responses to Reviews...
The Mysterious E: Lol! Right? xD
tinytogepilover: Mmm, no more May rivalry, but there is something totally unexpected toward the end. Stick around for it? :)
Claudette14: Haha! I was actually worried that she didn't have enough traditions since I called the chapter 'Traditions'! Yup! It was that chapter! And Drew got more than jealous; he got obsessive! xD Life's going great, thanks! How about you?
Pkemaster: Isn't he? I love him. :D That's great! I feel so accomplished for actually being able to do that!
Claire Ville: Thank you, sweetheart!
KittyRin: So do I! Lol, what's not to love about Jimmy? That kid's awesome. xD I know! I'm so upset that we have to wait another seven months or so until Christmas. ._. Thankfully, these months have been flying by, so it may not seem too long! I'll be so upset if the world really does end before we get to Christmas, though, haha!
The Last Poison Apple: Thank you! :)
Blitz: Isn't Drew such a sweetheart? :D And I have never really given Oldrivalshipping much mind until some of my reviewers for this story requested some Oldrivalshipping moments! I'm going to have to read some fics to make me fall in love with the shipping in order to write one on my own, so we'll see how that goes. :) Thank you so much, sweetie!
Fprmr1: Haha, I swear I searched all over the internet to find the name for it, but I couldn't. Fail whale. xP
Pear-Shaped: Lol! Yes, he went there! xD And I need as many light-hearted chapters I can get before the drama and angst starts to kick in in the final five chapters or so. :p
chocolatehell: I love guys with the need for bromance. They're always so funny when they crave it. xD Yeah, I'm trying keep from packing a whole bunch of events into the next couple of chapters because I feel like the final five or so chapters will have enough drama and angst to make up for it. And you'll see! He wasn't invited to the cabin stay because he did graduate way before any of members of the gang did, so he's not as close to any of them as he is to May. But he will be making his appearance soon! I love Gary, I really do. But what I'm about to do to him, I do not like. :\
Chi-Chiwawa: Hehe, aren't I a total dork? xD I really need to write a fic with the two of them together as friends. Imagine how much comedy I could include in it! Max isn't going to have a love interest because he really isn't an important character in this fic, unfortunately. And I don't think I'm going to have room to include Beautifly/Masquerain romance in the final ten chapters. Perhaps in one of my future fics, but not this one. Sorry. :\ Lol! I love the fact that little kids have no clue how much money is a lot of money. You could just bribe them to do anything for you for a dollar and they'll do it. xD I'll have to get back to you with that viewpoint thing! I'll PM it to you tomorrow!
theasianwonder: A total nut, which is why I'm having so much fun portraying him. ;D
LoveLoverGrl: Haha! I have never seen him in the animes, so I wouldn't know. xD
SunshineTails: I do, because I'm the same! The pseudo gay guys are the funniest! I tried so hard not to cry when Prim and Finnick died, and I succeeded. But my chest was hurting like hell. I really was forcing those tears back. :( Jennifer is absolutely perfect for the role! She deserves a gigantic hug or some crazy award for her portrayal of Katniss—seriously!
dorkyreader859: Haha, Jimmy's just so lovable! :)
SpikEarPichu'sTrainer: Haha, I love you, too, honey!
shanasakura-scarlet21: Well, I guess you could say that! And I'm positive! He managed to snag Marina, after all! He's just got a desperate need for bromance. ;D And lolololol! I may have to make her straddle him just for that!
Jace'sVampiress97: Definitely!
rats xp: Japanese gardens are so beautiful! I wish I had one in my backyard so that I could go outside and relax in it whenever I want!
FlygonFan: Lol, what trouble? You didn't cause any trouble! xD I don't have any either, now that I think of it. And I have something else in store for Paul's torture, and that torture happens to be named Jimmy. Don't you worry!
DreamlessDirt: With Jimmy? Absolutely! :D
EeveeTransformed: Hah, you still reviewed! It's okay as long as you always review before the next update!
xDragonairx: Hehe, you may be surprised at how well Jimmy's cookies are going to turn out. xD Yeah! I agree! Some of the stuff is so unrealistic (well, to the pokémon world anyway) and they really just went overboard with the amount of pokémon that they keep adding! Why couldn't they just stop after Hoenn or Sinnoh? Dx I don't really like Iris, either, so that's why I don't plan on ever giving her a major or minor role in any of my fics. She only managed to get a cameo in this one because it's only natural that she would attend Ash and Misty's wedding.
Sora-May: That's great to hear! Thanks! :D
OrangesAreAwesome: Hahaha! Thank you! I try to keep Paul as in character as possible. I just make Jimmy as funny as possible. xD

Love Unexpected chapter 32

"You know, these really aren't half bad," Marina mused to her boyfriend as she bit off another piece of her sugar cookie. "Who would've thought that you could bake such good cookies?"

"Did you doubt me, babe?" Jimmy smiled as he draped an arm around her shoulders and nuzzled the side of her head.

"I'll admit I had my doubts."

"Hey Jimmy, can I get another one?" Drew requested as he readjusted May in his lap as she played against Cam in a video game.

"I got you, best friend," Jimmy grinned. Then he began to crawl across the sofa that the four of them shared with his jar of cookies to get to Drew.

Picking a green-sprinkled cookie out of the batch to match Drew, he shoved half of it into the guy's mouth.

"Thanks, Jim," Drew mumbled, his voice distorted by the massive cookie.

May chortled when she turned around to see her boyfriend's startled expression, only to have Jimmy stick a cookie into her mouth as well. She blinked as Drew smirked at her in a taunting manner. She glared right back at him.

"Hah! I just beat you, May!" Cam cried happily as the typhlosion that he was controlling via the game station controller landed a successful blow on May's machamp, causing the virtual pokémon to teeter.

"Hey!" May cried, her voice muffled by the large cookie in her mouth. "You did not! I still have some hit points left!"

Unwilling to accept defeat, May swirled the two thumbsticks around on her controller, making her machamp dance around Cam's typhlosion on the screen. She did so in order to avoid all of Typhlosion's hits until she could get Machamp close enough to it to attack. After that, she jammed her thumbs onto the right buttons to make her machamp use Cross Chop. It was a successful hit.

Cam frowned at the screen and sulked from where he sat on the floor in front of Natalie, who was sitting on the couch and eating one of Jimmy's cookies. She snickered as she watched Jimmy creep around the couch with his jar of cookies in hand. He climbed up the end and sat beside her, holding up a finger to his mouth to let her know not to say anything.

She smiled and held up her hand, forming a circle with her index finger and thumb to give him the okay. He handed her his jar of cookies and then lunged at Cam.

"Gah!" Cam cried out as Jimmy suddenly seized him around the neck and rammed a cookie into his mouth.

Everyone cracked up as Cam tried to wrestle Jimmy off him.

May quickly seized the opportunity to win the battle between her and Cam, defeating Typholsion with her machamp's brutal combination of Thunderpunch and Vital Throw. By the time Jimmy had rolled off of Cam and scurried away, it was already too late for Cam to make a comeback. He pushed himself onto his knees and yanked the cookie out of his mouth to gape at the screen.

"Yay!" May cheered as the game announced her victory. "I win!"

"Y-you cheat!" Cam breathed in horror. "That wasn't fair! Jimmy attacked me!"

"Hah! That's your problem! I won fair and square!"

Cam growled and scanned the room for the cause of his loss. He watched as Jimmy scampered away to the other side of the room after retrieving the jar of cookies from Natalie.

"Jimmy! Get your butt back over here!" he roared.

"No can do, bro," Jimmy laughed as he leaned into the person who was occupying the loveseat before he had climbed on. Upon seeing who it was after he turned his head, a bright smile lit up his face. "Hi, Paul! I thought you were Brendy!"

"He's in the shower," Paul deadpanned, gazing at Jimmy emotionlessly before he let his eyes drop to the jar of cookies in Jimmy's arms. "Give me another cookie."

"No," Jimmy said firmly. His mouth formed into a circle as he pulled the bowl of cookies into his chest and leaned away from Paul. "My cookies."

"Give me a cookie."

"No! You said you didn't want one when I was handing them out after everyone came inside from sledding!"

"Jimmy, give me a cookie," Paul all but snarled. And then he lunged.

Jimmy whimpered and leapt up from the loveseat, dashing out of the room before either Paul or Cam could get to him.

Brendan was just appearing at the bottom of the stairs as his friend ran down the hallway, a look of pure horror on his face.

"Whoa, Jimmy!" Brendan exclaimed as Jimmy crashed into him. "Calm down! What's up?"

"Paul and Cam are trying to kill me!" Jimmy screamed in his face. He took off sprinting to the stairs before Brendan could even blink.

Brendan shook his head as he walked into the family room.

"What just happened?" he asked when he saw that Paul and Cam were sitting down.

"What do you mean?" Cam asked innocently.

"Jimmy just said you and Paul were trying to kill him."

"Pfft," Paul snorted as he popped a cookie into his mouth from Jimmy's jar that he cradled in his lap. "I don't know what he was talking about."

Dawn rolled her eyes from where she sat perched on an ottoman above Marina.

"You two are lying through your teeth," she accused as she braided Marina's hair.

"Say what?" Cam asked her as he took the jar of cookies away from Paul, ignoring the guy's deadly glare.

"Were you and Paul not attempting to kill Jimmy until you both got too lazy and just stayed in the room?"

"That they were," Marina piped, raising her hand and sticking up her index finger to emphasize that Dawn had a point.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Paul deadpanned, while he crossed his arms over his chest.

Brendan slowly sat down beside May, who had slid off of Drew's lap to indulge herself in the video game that she was currently playing with Natalie.

"Who should I believe?" he asked her.

"I dunno," she said in a clipped tone as she punched the buttons on the controller with her thumb. "I wasn't paying attention. Game time. Don't talk to me."

Brendan blinked and turned his attention to the television screen to watch the game.

A blaziken, which he assumed to be May's, was brutally pummeling an ampharos. The green bar at the top right corner that indicated the number of hit points the ampharos had left was draining rapidly. Brendan predicted that there would only be about ten seconds left of the battle until the ampharos would faint. There was no way that it would be able to defeat Blaziken. The latter's hit points bar was nearly full.

"Nooo!" May wailed as the ampharos fainted on the screen, causing everyone in the room to jump in shock. "My ampharos! My undefeated record!"

Huh, so the ampharos wasn't hers, Brendan thought to himself. He turned to Natalie and assessed her smug expression.

"Did you just beat her record?" he asked.

"Yep," Natalie declared proudly as she started a new game. "In approximately three minutes and twenty-six seconds."

"Good job, Natalie," Drew chuckled.

"Thanks!"

"I hate you both," May mumbled, slumping in the couch as Brendan hesitantly reached out and took her controller from her hand. She glared at him, though she made no effort to get it back.

"But we love you, May," Natalie insisted with a cheeky smile.

"Yeah, don't hate us," Drew added with a smirk as he wrapped an arm around the brunette.

May chewed on the inside on her mouth as she crossed her arms over her chest. She remained silent for a moment until something came to her mind.

"I'll love you guys again if one of you makes me some spicy ramen noodles while I go shower," she suggested, eying between the two of them to see who would volunteer.

"I'll do it," Natalie offered, pushing herself off the ground. "I was going to make some anyways. Anyone else want some?"

"I'll take a bowl!" Dawn piped, raising her hand temporarily before bringing it back to work on Marina's hair.

"Spicy or regular?"

"Spicy."

"'Kay," Natalie said. "Anyone else?"

When no one else asked for ramen noodles, Natalie headed out of the family room and to the kitchen, where she rummaged the cabinets for the ingredients to make the noodles.

Brendan frowned as he realized that there was no one to play against him in the video game. May would have volunteered had she not followed Natalie out to go take a shower upstairs. He almost shut off the game system altogether to watch TV until Drew grabbed the spare controller from the coffee table.

"I'll play you," he offered with a kind smirk.

Brendan smiled back and selected his character from the game directory.

"Alright," he said.

After Drew created his character in the game, the two guys went on to choose their pokémon for battle from the ten that the game selected for them randomly. Brendan went for a dragonite, while Drew chose a salamance—a fair battle in the skies.

They were both happy to find that neither of them harbored any hard feelings against the other. The battle was lighthearted and fair, completely free of any competitiveness that went outside of the game. Their conversation throughout the duration of the game was friendly and fair as well. They talked like two guys who had been friends from the very start, as if they had never been love rivals.

It was relieving and pleased May to no end when she returned from her shower an hour later to find that the two were still talking off on the other side of the room with the other guys.

"Hey guys," she greeted her girl friends as she sat down on the couch beside Dawn. "What'd I miss?"

"Nothing really," Dawn shrugged as she shoved some noodles into her small mouth. "Brendan beat Drew in the game and Jimmy got harassed when he came back down here—nothing new. Turns out he went to take a shower, too."

Marina laughed.

"You should've seen what they did to him, May," she expressed. "They ganged up on him and pummeled him with pillows and shoved cookies into his mouth."

"And you allowed it to happen?" May asked her, laughing at the mental image.

"He's a big boy now," Marina replied with a shrug. "He can take care of himself."

The girls laughed just as Jimmy let out a cry of alarm. They turned around briefly to spare a glance over in the boys' direction, but quickly lost interest when all they saw were the guys cracking up and Drew shaking his head.

A moment later, after all of the girls had turned their heads back to engross themselves in a conversation, he came over to their side of the room and sat down on the couch beside May. They all cocked an eyebrow at him as he pressed his lips into a straight line. Whether it was to suppress laughter or to refrain from frowning, they weren't sure.

"What're you doing over here?" May asked him.

Drew looked at her through half-lidded eyes.

"Do you really think I want to be over there while Jimmy's pants are off?" he asked.

The girls' eyes widened and they all snapped their heads over to the group of boys.

Paul was standing up on the air hockey table with the slightest hint of an amused smirk on his face as he tauntingly waved Jimmy's sweatpants in the air. The black-haired boy tried desperately to get them back, flashing his green and red plaid boxers as he jumped up and down, but Cam had a firm grip on both of his ankles, preventing him from lunging up into the air high enough to retrieve them. Meanwhile, Brendan remained squatting on the floor beside him, gripping his knees to support himself as his guffaws threatened to throw him off balance.

The girls turned back around to look at Marina, who wore an unusually mortified expression on her face. It took them a second, but then they started busting out laughing as well.

Natalie fell off the couch as she cracked up, clutching her stomach as her behind hit the floor. Dawn actually snorted in her fits of laughter, while she subconsciously smacked Natalie's knee, mistaking it as her own.

May simply threw her head back and laughed just as Drew groaned and pulled her onto his lap. He buried his face into the back of her neck, while Marina dragged a hand down her own.

"H-how did...hah...Paul manage to get them off of him?" Dawn asked in between her guffaws.

She blinked to rid of the gathering tears in her eyes before she glanced at May. When they met each other's eyes, they cracked up all over again and she fell backwards.

"Cam and Brendan tackled him to the ground and Paul yanked them off," Drew deadpanned, watching the laughing girls through half-lidded eyes before he looked back at the guys.

He shook his head again just as Jimmy accidentally fell on top of Cam, who yelped in alarm. He found himself unable to keep from chuckling at the sight.

"What a great Christmas Eve," he muttered.

Christmas arrived right on schedule the next morning, accompanied by a light flurry of snow.

Dawn was the first to rise out of the nine people who were currently inhabiting the log cabin, and she made sure to wake up all the girls before she went to the opposite side of the house to wake up the boys. The majority of them were annoyed with her at first, but the excitement of Christmas soon got to them, and they found themselves merry and eager to enjoy the holiday.

Paul, however, took a lot longer to wake up.

"Paul," Dawn droned as she yanked on the covers of her boyfriend's bed. "Wake up—it's Christmas. Stop sleeping!"

Paul grunted and yanked the covers back out of her grip.

"I don't care...let me sleep," he mumbled into his pillow.

"You can sleep anytime of any day! Christmas is more important than sleep!"

"I beg to differ."

"Christmas only happens once a year."

Silence.

Dawn huffed and sat back on the bed, eying her boyfriend's silhouette, which was outlined by the thick covers. An idea dawned on her and her lips curled up deviously.

"If you don't get up, I'll get Jimmy up here to molest the crap out of you," she threatened.

Paul's eyes snapped open and he immediately pushed himself up off the bed.

"You're an evil child, did you know that?" he deadpanned as he glared at her, noting the pink Santa hat on her head with disdain.

"Of course I am," she piped with a proud smile as she reached to wrap her arms around his neck. "I wouldn't be the girlfriend that you love so much if I wasn't, right?"

Paul didn't respond. He simply leaned forward and allowed her to press her lips to his, capturing them in a sweet, lingering kiss that warmed his insides despite the chilly winter weather.

His arms went around her waist to draw her closer to him, and she sighed into his mouth, a content smile pulling at the corner of her lips.

What a wonderful way to start off Christmas morning, she thought to herself.

Until a voice broke them apart.

Jimmy grinned goofily in the doorway as he eyed them with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"I knew you two would be making out!" he exclaimed as he quickly jogged into the room.

In one swift motion, he pulled a Santa hat over Paul's head before he shouted "Merry Christmas!" at the two of them. He ran back downstairs before either of them could do anything to hurt him.

"Why is it always him?" Paul grumbled.

Dawn shrugged at him as she got off the bed.

"I don't know," she said, and then extended her hand. "Let's go kill him, shall we?"

Paul smirked.

"Yes," he said, his voice rather eerie. "Let's."

The excited chatter of their friends could be heard as Paul and Dawn descended the stairs. They walked into the family room, where they found mixture of torn wrapping paper and untied ribbons strewn the room, opened boxes and empty bags littering the floor.

Their friends were scattered about the room, opening boxes and thanking one another for the gifts.

Jimmy, however, was nowhere in sight.

Hiding no doubt, Paul decided. He'd hunt him down later.

"You knitted me a scarf?" Drew laughed as he pulled out a chunky navy blue scarf out of the box that May had given him.

He ran his fingers along the cable knit pattern and admired the neatly knit stitches. Not bad at all for the work of a first-timer.

"I know. So cliché, right?" May laughed back as she tore the wrapping paper of the box that Drew had given her, one of the few that sat behind her.

"I love it," he smiled as he wrapped it around himself and reached in to pull out the other present. A larger smile broke out onto his face when he saw that it was the leather jacket that he had wanted back at the Vermillion City boutique. "And you got me the jacket, too? Thanks, babe!"

"You're welcome!" May smiled, and went on to snap open the velvet jewelry box in her hand. Her eyes widened at the sight and she tentatively took out the necklace.

"Is this a diamond?" she breathed in disbelief as she moved the ring around, watching as the stone caught the light.

"Yeah. And the necklace and ring is pure white gold."

May gaped at the ring that she held in her hand. It was a simple silver band with one single diamond encrusted into the silver, but the size of the diamond was more than enough to make her want to squeal.

An intricate rose design was engraved into the outer side while the inside had one single line of words engraved into it. "My love for you, always and forever" was what it read.

"You spoil me way too much," May breathed as she ran her fingertip along the delicate silver chain of the necklace.

"You're worth spoiling," Drew grinned and took the necklace to put it around her neck. "And I hope to be the one putting that ring onto your finger when the time comes."

May simply turned around at the words and tackled him on the couch. She smiled as he laughed, pressing kisses to his lips as she told him she loved him over and over again.

The sound of the doorbell ringing traveled from the front door all the way to the family room.

May pushed away from Drew and grinned excitedly from ear to ear.

"I think that's her!" she exclaimed, meeting his eyes with an incredibly happy glint in her own.

"Brendan!" she called to her friend, who was closest to the door. "Can you get that for me, please? I want a chance to tackle her."

Brendan nodded and pushed himself up from where he was opening a present on the ground. He jogged out the room and down the hallway to the front door to open the door for whoever it was that May invited. His jaw nearly dropped at the gorgeous redhead standing before him once he opened the door.

Her luscious red locks framed her small, heart-shaped face. Her cheeks were rosy from the cold, the lovely shade of red popping nicely against her ivory skin. Her teal eyes twinkled even in the dull lighting of winter, looking like a beautiful painting in a frame of thick black lashes.

Her perfectly pink lips were slightly parted as she took him in. She appeared to be just as in awe as he was when he opened the door for her, her pretty eyes widening slightly at the most handsome guy she had ever seen in her life. Her heart began to pound in her chest, and she was afraid that he would be able to hear it despite her many layers of winter clothes.

It rendered her incapable of speech, something that she was not used to. She was hardly ever speechless, and he seemed to be just as incapable of words as she was. At least, for the moment until he could recollect himself.

"H-hi," he eventually managed to stutter as he stepped aside for the girl to enter. "I'm Brendan. Come on in. You must be—"

"Brianna!"

The redhead snapped out of her trance and diverted her eyes from Brendan's face to see who had exclaimed her name.

A familiar brunette charged at her at full speed before leaping onto her and straddling her around the waist, causing her to let out an oof as she almost toppled over. She tried desperately to support the weight of her friend.

"Hi, May," she laughed breathlessly.

"I missed you so much! I'm so happy you're here!" May exclaimed happily as she leapt back down and pulled Brianna back in for a bone-crushing hug.

"I see where Jimmy gets it from," Drew muttered to Marina as the group walked down the hallway.

The blunette pressed her lips together to suppress a smile and nodded.

"Hey!" Jimmy cried in protest as he suddenly appeared in the living room behind him. "I didn't get it from May! If anything, she got it from me!" He backed up a little from where he stood as he prepared for a demonstration. He called to May. "Hey! May! Watch! This is how it's done!"

All eyes turned to Jimmy as he suddenly took a running start in Drew's direction.

Drew sighed at the sight, completely expecting Jimmy to jump on him again.

"Not again," he groaned. He braced himself from the blow of the guy's weight.

But the blow never came. In fact, Jimmy ran right past him, all the way to an unknowing Paul. Then he leapt.

Paul cried out as his friend tackled him, nearly taking him off his feet. Everyone including Brianna gasped in shock as the offended guy growled and pushed Jimmy off him, who immediately took off. Paul roared and chased after him.

"What just happened?" Brianna asked, completely and utterly confused as she turned to Brendan.

Brendan chuckled at her, and Brianna nearly felt her heart stop at the handsome smile that he presented her with.

"Merry Christmas, Brianna," he said.

Author's Note: Review? :) Thanks for reading! I don't really have much to say for a change, so I'll just leave you guys with a bye.