Later that day at lunch, May walked into the lunchroom nervously. She knew what she had to do, but it didn't make it any easier to do. After a quick glance around the room, she spotted Drew looking around for her as well. After a moment he located her and a smile crossed his face as he approached her. May took a deep breath and steeled herself as he arrived by her side.

"Hi.." she greeted him.

"Hey. Good to see you again." he responded as he kissed her cheek. May blushed a bit but was quick to remember that he didn't know about the recent events of the last few days, so she let the behavior slide this time.

"Drew… we need to talk." she informed him, catching his full attention with her tone.

"What about?" he asked. Taking one more big deep breath, she answered him.

"I found out what happened that night…" Drew's eyes widened in surprise and the smile was immediately wiped from his face.

"What...?"

"Dawn and I have been investigating all week…I found out what happened and Ash confirmed it." she elaborated.

"He told you…?!"

"Only after I forced him to." she countered.

"May…"

"Drew even though I don't like what you did…I still understand why you did it. Thank you for caring about me. But…I don't feel that way about you. I never did. I still love Ash with all my heart." she explained.

"But May...he nearly killed you…" he reminded her, but she shook her head.

"It was whoever was dumb enough to spike the punch that night…yes Ash made a bad decision…but that doesn't change how I feel about him. And I'm not going to let that one night rule over all our lives anymore." she informed him.

"May...please really think about this...you're going to someone who put his desire to have you over your safety…" Drew begged her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Seeing you that way that night hurt me too…"

"I know it did. You're an amazing guy Drew…and you all were right about one thing…being with you would be the easier path…but it's not the right one for me…as great as you are Drew…I don't love you. And faking love would be a disservice to you." she informed him.

"May…"

"I'm sorry but be honest with me…would you want to be with a girl who was lying to herself about her feelings?" she hinted, making him pause before sighing with a look of defeat on his face.

"...No I suppose not…" May hugged him sadly he hugged her back.

"I'm sorry…" she whispered.

"I just hope you know what you're doing…" he said quietly. "And I hope you're happy…"

"I am…and trust me when I say, I know there's someone else out there that will make you just as happy." she promised him. Drew gave her a small nod and a half smile.

"Thanks, May…" he said before heading off, obviously needing some time before he could truly put the last few weeks behind him, which May completely understood. She on the other hand took another scan of the room and spotted Ash smiling at her from his table alongside Dawn, Serena, and Chloe. She eagerly sat with them and he took her hand across the table.

"Hey. Everything go ok?" he asked.

"It was hard, but he understood. And bonus points, he doesn't hate me." She chuckled weakly.

"Glad to hear it." Ash nodded, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. May gave him a thankful smile before she looked at Serena.

"What?" the blonde blinked.

"Now's your chance." the brunette informed her, eyeing Drew and causing Serena's eyes to widen in fear, and quickly shake her head.

"I-I can't…! You two just "broke up"..." she tried to protest.

"There's no "girl code" on this one Serena. Go." May countered.

"Give it a chance Serena!" Dawn encouraged her.

"Yeah!" Ash grinned.

"You know they're not going to stop until you go over there." Chloe reminded her. Sighing as she knew Chloe was right, Serena took a deep breath for courage and walked over to the table that Drew had sat at across the lunchroom. He noticed her approach and glanced up from his food.

"Oh…hi Serena." he greeted her politely.

"Hi, Drew. Mind if I sit?" she asked, gesturing to the open seat across from him.

"Help yourself." he shrugged. Serena sat across from him and the two began talking as Serena's friends watched from their table.

"Aw…" Dawn cooed.

"Hope things work out for them." Chloe nodded. Ash smiled before turning his attention back to May.

"Guess that just leaves your folks." he realized.

"Yeah…that one won't be easy either." she sighed.

"Don't worry. You won't be alone." he promised as he squeezed her hand. "I'll be by your side."

"You promise you won't let him scare you off…?"

"As long as you want me May, I'll be right here." he assured her. May smiled a little when suddenly Dawn squealed happily, drawing their attention.

"Look look look!" she pointed to the other table as Drew handed Serena a rose and Serena blushed and accepted with a smile which he returned. The group didn't know what the two had said to each other, but they took that as a positive sign for the two.

Later that day, after school had let out for the day, May found herself in Ash's car as her boyfriend pulled into her driveway. It was finally time to put the final nail in this coffin, but the task was very daunting.

"...I'm scared." she whispered.

"So am I…" he replied as he held her hand. "But we have to do this or we'll never get to be together."

"Right…" Taking a deep breath, they both got out of the car and headed in. Caroline heard the door open from the kitchen and went out to the foyer to greet what she thought was just her daughter.

"Welcome home Ma-" the older woman spotted Ash and froze mid-sentence, stunned to see him there, much less holding May's hand.

"Hi Mrs. Maple…" he greeted her nervously. The scene quickly attracted the attention of Norman as well and he joined them in the foyer.

"What the?! What's going on?!" he demanded.

"I know the truth now...Dawn and I did an investigation and learned about the car accident." May revealed. Norman glared at Ash but May stood her ground. "He only told me what happened after I forced him to."

"Leave Ash." her father ordered him, but borrowing some of May's strength, Ash too stood his ground.

"I'm sorry sir...but I can't do that…"

"Mom, Dad hear us out." May begged.

"What is there to hear out?!" Norman growled.

"I love him still. And I'm not going to tolerate being apart from him any longer." she informed bother parents.

"May he nearly got you killed…" Caroline pointed out.

"But you guys gatekeeping me and who I can be with doesn't solve anything. He wasn't the one who spiked the drinks that night." she fired back.

"He was the one driving through. But even that doesn't matter May. This is about keeping you safe and taking responsibility for what happened…" Norman insisted.

"No one took responsibility by covering it up!" May yelled.

"We're just trying to protect you…" Caroline whispered.

"By removing my choice in the matter…?" May wondered.

"We did it for your own good. We have a responsibility to protect you." Norman told her.

"And I love that you guys take my safety so seriously…but you can't keep me imprisoned here. I need to live my life." she reminded them. Both parents were silent for a moment as they considered their daughter's words. Both teens waited patiently until Norman finally spoke again.

"Ash, could you give us a word?" Ash nodded as was escorted into the living room while May waited out in the foyer.

"…How can you be sure this won't happen again?" Norman asked him, completely dead serious.

"I won't lie to you and say I control what other people will do around us...but I can control what I do. Being more vigilant when around her for example. I love your daughter so much. I'm scared about us getting back together too, to be honest with you. But at the end of the day…this is what she wants. And if she's willing to take me back even after what I did to her…then I'll do everything in my power to make it work." he explained. Both parents again went quiet to consider his words. They both looked at each other after a moment.

"...Do you trust him?" Caroline asked.

"Not entirely no...but May does…" Norman sighed.

"I love her Mr. and Mrs. Maple...and I swore to never hurt her again...but being away from her I was doing just that…" Ash reminded them.

"...Very well. I won't stand in your way…but if she ever ends up hurt again…" Norman warned Ash who nodded in response.

"I understand. Thank you, Sir." Ash said with a small smile before returning to May's side. She looked at him with a worried expression but he just kissed her abruptly, catching her off guard.

"I love you so much…" he whispered.

"I love you too." she responded, smiling a little.

The next morning, May woke up to a text from Ash making her phone buzz. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she picked up her phone and opened up her messages.

Ash: Good morning beautiful. Thought you'd get a kick out of this.

Below his message was a link to a news article, so May clicked on it and the website opened up, revealing a headline that caught her attention.

"High School Senior Arrested for Promoting Underage Drinking?" she whispered curiously to herself. She recognized the student in the photo, but the reality of the situation didn't click in her head right away. However, once it did, she quickly went back to her message conversation with Ash and began to write back.

May: Is this the guy who spiked the drinks that night?!

Ash: Sure is. They finally got him.

May: Thank goodness! I should've known it was Harley! He's always up to sneaky junk like that!

Ash: I hear ya. But hey now that he's gone, we shouldn't have to worry about any more spiked punch.

May: Yay!

Ash: So with that being said, can I ask you to go out with me tonight? I'd like to take you out dancing for once where we end the night happily this time.

May: I'd like that very much Ash.

The End