Drew sat across from her, at their table big enough for four, silenced as she admired the menu. Her head held a slight tilt as her eyes scanned the paper two-pager. Her hair, noticeably damp and tucked behind her ears for the most part, still clung to her skin in places. Her temple, her forehead, her neck. Faint wafts of chlorine reached his senses in waves, and he watched as she chewed her lip in thought.
She tilted her head in the opposite direction as she examined the other page, and the slight motion was enough to snap him back to his seat. The buzz of the restaurant hummed in his ears, and he willed himself to make a selection of his own.
The ceilings of this restaurant were high, and natural light flooded in from the floor-to-ceiling windows on Drew's right-hand side. From where they sat, he could see the outdoor patio where guests could dine in a thin shade. Fan blades spun lazily above the patio, but the inside area was air conditioned. The dishware was perfectly white, seemingly new.
"Are you ready to order?" a woman asked.
Drew glanced up from his menu to address their waitress, who was standing with a readied smile and a pen poised at her notepad.
"We're still waiting for two people," he said, looking to May.
She frowned at the reminder and glanced behind her in case the couple happened to be walking in at that exact moment.
"Can I get you started with some drinks?" the waitress suggested.
May perked up at that, and Drew couldn't stop the amusement from reaching his face if he tried.
"Yes," she said, her blue eyes dragging along the drink section of the menu again. "Can I have a pomeg margarita?"
"Of course," the waitress agreed, turning slightly to Drew. "And for you?"
"Yeah," he said. "I'll just have a rum and soda pop."
Against his will, his eyes shifted to May's face, and she was smirking teasingly at him, her eyebrows raised. Drew shook his head and politely turned his attention back to the waitress. She thanked them and promised to return shortly.
"Arumandsoda pop," May teased. She squinted and leaned against the table playfully. "Who are you?"
Drew shrugged, rubbing at the tip of his nose with the side of his finger. It was a failed attempt to hide his smile, he knew. "We're on vacation, May."
May nodded, choosing to hold her tongue for whatever reason.
"Well what about you?" he asked. "Pomeg is new."
She shrugged. "We're on vacation."
Drew adored the sound of that when it was echoed back to . A soft smile lay neatly across her lips, and he could see the length of her lashes as she glanced at the table between them.
There were many moments when he could distinctly feel the full weight of his heart in his chest. When he could feel the weight of every word he'd never so much as whispered out loud as they sat heavily in his ribcage. This was one of them.
He cleared his throat lightly.
"Have you heard from Dawn?" he asked.
May fished her phone out of the tote bag that hung from the back of her chair. She checked the home screen for messages. "Nope."
Drew hummed. "I'll message Paul."
This better not be a scheme to force them into a "date".
Pleasant radio music reached his ears as he sent out the quick text. Then he set his phone on the table facedown. May was taking in the sight of the patio on the right-hand side of the room.
"So what else do they have at this place?" he asked.
That was enough to grab her attention. "There's a ton of stuff."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah," she confirmed with faint amusement. "They've got a casino somewhere, a spa, a sauna, a lounge."
He nodded, his eyebrows raised.
"There's also a five-star restaurant, which we're going to tomorrow night," she finished.
"Oh, so there is an itinerary," Drew teased, leaning back against his chair.
May burned pink at the accusation. "Of course there is."
"I thought you were just making it up as we go."
"I'm…" she struggled to latch onto an argument. "I'm not."
"So what are we doing tonight?"
Drew knew he had her cornered, but he couldn't find it within him to pass up an opportunity to mess with her.
"Well, tonight, we're eating dinner and doing whatever we want."
Drew nodded mockingly.
"Unless you want to do something else," she said, a pinch of spice added to her tone.
"No," he replied with a chuckle. "That's exactly what I want to do."
"Good."
May's eyes leapt from his face to their waitress as she returned with a tray of drinks. "Here's the margarita," she said, as she set May's drink on the table. "And here's the rum and soda."
"Thanks," Drew said, wrapping his fingers around the glass.
"I'm so sorry," the waitress said. "But I have to ask. Do you hate when people recognize you?"
Drew paused with the drink halfway to his lips, then he set it down again. Their server directed the question to him specifically.
"Do you recognize me?" he asked.
She giggled at that, which Drew didn't like. "Yes, I'm a big fan of pokémon contests. I've seen you judge a lot of them, and to be honest, you're my favorite guest judge."
He felt like he was slowly suffocating, as if the non-existent collar on his shirt was too tight. The waitress was anything but subtle, and his eyes glanced at May of their own accord. She was staring blankly at their waitress with a hand wrapped around the stem of her margarita glass. She hadn't taken a drink yet.
"Thanks," he said dryly. "If you're a big fan of contests, you must have heard of May Maple." May donned a polite smile that didn't reach her eyes. "The Princess of Hoenn."
The young woman turned her attention to May for what seemed like the first time. "That sounds familiar," she said, her words dragging as she tried to jog her memory. "But I don't think so. That must have been a long time ago."
May's polite smile fell, and the grip around her glass tightened slightly.
Oh Mew.
"That's a shame," Drew said quickly. "May's a legend in the coordinating world, and she's better than I ever was." He felt May's blue eyes shift to his face at that admission, but he continued on. "I wouldn't be where I am today without her."
"Oh, I'm sorry," the waitress said to May. "It's nice to meet you."
"Thank you," she practically mouthed in response, the polite smile returning.
"Well, my name is Nora if you need anything," the waitress said. "I'll be back to check on you."
May's eyes followed Nora as she departed then returned to gaze into the empty space their server had previously occupied. She snapped out of her stupor, brought the salt-rimmed glass to her lips, and took an exceptionally long sip.
Drew hated interactions like these. Handling them tactfully was near impossible, since he couldn't explain why he wasn't interested in whoever was interested in him, despite May's occasional encouragement to pursue them. And he couldn't explain why any person flirting with May at a bar or a restaurant or a bookstore elicited in him the worst kind of jealousy. Especially since any amount of online research about them would unmistakably state that they were both mysteriously single.
Drew watched as May set down her glass.
He would tell her, he decided. He would tell her this weekend. He loved their life, their home, and the memories they'd built together over the years, and the thought of even fracturing the dynamic of anything they shared was sickening to him. But the idea that they could actually have it, instead of simply pretending they did, was too much of a motivator to deny.
"I never thought I'd see the day when someone in this region hadn't heard of you," he said, sipping his drink.
May offered him a sympathetic smile at that. She took a somber sip of her drink.
"How's your drink?" Drew asked.
She nodded. "It's good." An ounce of playfulness returned to her eyes. "How's yours?"
"It's good," he admitted. "Tastes like summer."
She giggled lightly, and he was relieved that she was still able to humor him.
Her smile waned, and she met his eyes.
"Did you mean that?" she asked. "Everything you said about me?"
He nodded faintly. "Yeah. You know I meant that."
She held his stare, causing something at his center to simmer. "I just don't hear you say it that often."
Drew was tempted to stay silent, but his tongue was sore from being bitten for so long.
"How often would you want to hear it?" he asked genuinely.
He let his words hover between them, and May was visibly stricken by their impact. Her eyes, unsure, searched his deeply for something he hoped she'd find. May typically didn't know what to do with his more suggestive phrases. Her face always held an expression like she wasn't sure how to categorize them in her own mind. Though he was terrified he'd say something blatantly obvious and she'd softly reject him, he hoped and prayed she never would.
Dawn groaned before taking the seat next to May. Paul filed in next to Drew, seeming to be quietly fuming about something.
"Sorry that took so long," Dawn said. "Paul was recognized in the lobby."
Paul ran a hand through his hair, releasing some steam.
"Autographs?" Drew wondered.
"Yes," he confirmed.
Drew noticed as Dawn and May exchanged sympathetic looks.
"Yep," he said, taking a swig of his drink. "That's part of the life."
"It's stupid," Paul said. "Why care so much about a signed piece of paper?"
Dawn shrugged. "I think they just want something to remember the moment by. Physical things last longer than memories do."
"Or maybe no one would believe they met you if they didn't have proof," Drew countered.
Dawn grinned. "Orthey just want to sell it online." She turned quickly to May, her eyes glancing at her drink. "What's this?"
May's distant gaze broke from whatever wall it had latched onto. "Hm? Oh, it's a pomeg margarita."
"Can I try it?"
May nodded.
Dawn lifted it to her lips, humming delightfully when the drink hit her tongue. "It's yummy. Do they have rawst berry?"
"I think so!"
"What'd you order?" Paul's voice mumbled next to him. He'd opened the menu and was reading through the selections.
"Just a drink," Drew answered.
"No food yet?"
"Nah. We were waiting on you guys."
As if on cue, Nora returned with her trusty pad and paper. "Are we ready yet or do we need a few more minutes?"
Drew left the question to Dawn and Paul. His eyes examined May, slightly worried about her uncharacteristic silence. Was she really bothered by their waitress flirting with him? Or was it something else? He watched as she took a sip of her margarita, her doe eyes glancing up at their waitress as she jotted down a few orders on her notepad. Then her eyes trailed to his, the bottom half of her face blocked by the glass. She lowered it and gave him a sweet smile as if to confirm that she was okay.
But he'd known her long enough to know that wasn't true.
May sipped on her third drink as she and Dawn waded in the shallow end of the pool. After lunch, Paul showed them the way to a section of the resort that was reserved for VIPs, so it was just the four of them. Drew and Paul were right where they left them— laid out on beach chairs and soaking in the toasted sunlight. Drew's sunglasses were covering his face, his book long abandoned and laid across his chest.
"How's it been?" Dawn murmured to her.
May set down her drink at the side of the pool and shrugged. She pursed her lips and adjusted her sunglasses on the tip of her nose.
"It's been fine," she said back softly. She made sure her words were quiet enough to not travel to the other end of the pool. "We haven't really done much yet."
Dawn nodded before sinking a bit to allow the water to cover her shoulders.
"Iamirrationally nervous, though," May said, dipping as well and resting her back against the pool wall.
"About what?"
Her eyes, discreetly shielded by her sunglasses, flicked once again to Drew. She shrugged, remembering the regret she felt about inviting him on the trip instead of Dawn. How she didn't trust herself to not fall further for him under these circumstances, which would essentially put the life she loved to share with him at risk.
"May," Dawn furiously whispered. "You're smoking hot. Drew would be crazy not to see that."
May laughed under her breath.
"And he's not crazy," her friend finished.
The brunette sighed, sinking even lower into the water. "Yeah."
She pondered that for a moment, wondering if her physical beauty was an equal enough measure for everything she felt for him— his companionship, his sense of humor, the intonations of his laugh, the arc of his smile. She wasn't sure it was.
May let something spill from her lips that was uncomfortably stuck within her chest. "Our waitress hit on him today."
Dawn gasped as quietly as she could without drawing attention to them. "She didn't."
"She did," she stated factually. May sank even lower into the water. "I hate how much it bothers me. Because it shouldn't bother me, you know? We're not… anything." She watched as the surface of the water rippled in reaction to her movement. "We're nothing. Drew should be with whoever he wants."
"Well," Dawn hummed. "Who is he with?"
"No one," May said.
Her eyes darted to her long-time rival and friend. He still lounged peacefully against his beach chair.
"Why don'tyouhit on him?" Dawn wondered.
May chuckled nervously at the ludicrous idea. She turned to face her friend, her heart plummeting several stories within her chest. "Dawn. I can't do that."
"Well, why not?"
Her mind tried to grasp at any fleeting excuse that would fit as an answer for that question. Why couldn't she? Because that's not who she was? Because there was no way he'd see her the same way?
"Can I ask you something?" Dawn wondered. May's eyes flitted up to her friend's face. "Do you hold yourself back?"
May frowned slightly, the weight of the question evident on her face.
"Are you in your own way?" Dawn asked again quietly.
May's stomach twisted into knots just at the possibility of that being true. Was she? She thought of every statement Drew tossed at her thatcouldhave meant more,couldhave been an insinuation of something else. But she denied it every time, potentially twisting his meaning to something that would be easier to accept. Because there was nowayhe was actually flirting with her. Right?
"Maybe."
Dawn gave a small smile. "Don't be. If you love him, just love him." She reached for her drink. "Or maybe don't do that. That might be bad advice; don't listen to me."
May giggled and reached up to grab her own drink. "So I should just do what I've already been doing?"
"No, don't dothat," Dawn said, abandoning their hushed tones.
May laughed at her friend, so thankful that for some lucky reason, she'd also been able to win tickets to the resort.
The sound of May's laugh must have resonated with Drew because he sat up slightly in his chair, propped up by his elbows. A curious half-smile was written on his lips.
May lifted her sunglasses so he could see her eyes, and she watched from a distance as his smile spread, just slightly. Then she beckoned him over with a bend of her fingers.
Drew grinned and hung his head before leaning over to say something to Paul, who muttered something in return. Then he stood and made his way over to where they were in the pool. His shirt was noticeably left behind on his beach chair, and May could feel the nervousness begin to ripple once again through her bloodstream.
"Hi, Drew," Dawn said as he approached.
"Hey," he offered, his hands in the pockets of his swim shorts. "What's up?"
"I've got a question," May said.
"Yeah?"
He stooped to sit down at the side of the pool, his arm dangling lazily over his raised leg.
May tried not to notice the sculpt of his torso as he sat at the poolside. She tried not to notice the way his eyes absolutelyclungto her,and she prayed to Arceus that either he was as asleep as he seemed to be a few minutes ago or that their words never reached his ears.
Dawn stood, mentioning something about checking on Paul. May watched her go as a brief reprieve from the heat of Drew's gaze.
"What's your question?" he mumbled.
She set her jaw before locking irises with him again. This was it. She'd stop holding herself back.
"You've been wearing swimwear all day," she noted. "But you haven't been in the pool yet."
He smirked. "Is that your question?"
"It's most of it."
Drew was amused, his eyes disconnecting from hers to take in the rest of her facial features. "You know it's not really my thing." He paused slightly, his shade of green smoldering with the summer. "Unless that was an invitation."
There he was again, melting her effortlessly with his words, as if she was chocolate against his fingertips.
This was one of those times— when she would reject his sweetened words and convince herself that they were something less. To be fair, Drew made it pretty hard to tell the difference. Earlier that day, he'd charmed their waitress with what was barely a question, and now here she was in the very same position.
Charmed.
"It was," she said firmly.
Amusement slowly touched his lips, and he nodded curtly. "Alright."
Against everything she knew to be true about him, he dipped his legs into the water and lowered himself into the pool next to her. Before she even registered that she'd invited him in, she was reaping the consequences of her actions.
Drew's arms were raised slightly as his body got used to the chill of the pool.
"It's cold," he remarked.
"You'll get used to it—" she began to say as he sank into the water, submerging himself completely.
He was gone for just a second, then re-emerged, water streaming from him in rivers. Drew ran a hand down his face to clear the water from his eyes, then raked through his drenched hair.
"Yeah," he confirmed. "This isn't my thing."
Was she hyperventilating? It felt like she might've been. Red began to color her cheeks, and in the back of her mind, she was cursing Dawn for leaving her alone with him. Especially like this.
In an attempt to be casual, she reached for her drink and lifted it to her lips.
"Is that margarita number two?"
She peeked at him from over the top of the glass. His eyebrows raised.
"Three?"
May ignored him, placing her drink back on the side of the pool.
"May Maple, if that's drink number four, I'm revoking your ID."
She laughed. "It's my third one, I promise."
His expression told her that he obviously doubted her, but he said nothing in response. And then:
"I've got a question for you," he said.
She hummed to beckon his question.
"What's so relaxing about this?"
She giggled at that, leaning backwards to float along the surface of the water. The coolness of the water immediately flooded through her hair, and the world quieted as her ears were submerged.
"You can just kind of go with the flow," she murmured.
May righted herself, her arms extending to keep her afloat. Her eyes found Drew again, who was a few feet away from her now, still in the shallow end of the pool.
"Come 'ere," she said cheerily, offering a hand to him.
He moved towards her and grabbed her hand, using it to pull himself to her. For Drew, the pool was still shallow enough to stand in, but May needed to tread water.
Without thinking, she hung both hands from one of Drew's shoulders to anchor herself, and she immediately noticed the warmth of his skin against her palms. The rest of her body caught up with her, resulting in a distinct lack of space between them.
Drew said nothing, the sound of his breaths reflecting against the surface of the water as their bodies made an echo chamber of sorts. His eyes were averted, and up close she could see water beading against the surface of his skin. Perched above his lips. Exaggerating his eyelashes.
And then his gaze tentatively moved upwards to meet hers. The green in his eyes was clear and cutting. Her breath hitched, and every worried cell in her body was screaming to disconnect. To break eye contact. To move several feet away from him.
But she didn't. She refused to. She stood there, barely floating, willingly made immobile by something she'd been unable to replicate with anyone else.
She loved him. It was undeniable. It was descriptively written in every corner of her mind, declared wordlessly with every breath that left her lungs.
May watched his face as his eyes roamed her features. He opened his mouth and then closed it, throwing his gaze down to the surface of the water once more. She found herself silently begging him to meet her eyes again. He wouldn't.
She could feel her heart begin to shrivel in her chest, her stomach beginning to churn. This was her greatest fear, realized in the minutest of instances. Drew, not loving her back.
She bit back the rising terror and forced a small smile. Her hands slipped from his shoulder, and she took a step away, once again treading water.
"You okay?" she asked softly.
He looked her way again, his face clouded by what she'd come to know as his runaway trains of thought.
"Yeah," he said.
It was a lie, she knew. Playfully, she pushed a small wave of water in his direction, and he turned to avoid it crashing against his face.
"May," he said definitively.
She raised her eyebrows in rebuttal.
"Don't—"
She splashed him lightly again, causing him to turn away once more.
He pursed his lips and clenched his jaw. Drew reached up to wipe the new drops of water from the side of his face, a slow smile beginning to form.
"Don't what?" she asked.
He shook his head in an "Oh, you've done it now" kind of way and gently splashed in her direction.
May, expecting the watery retaliation, ducked underwater to avoid it. What she didn't expect was for Drew to do the same. She opened her eyes and exclaimed at the sight of Drew reaching towards her. In an attempt to get away, she spun and tried swimming in the other direction, but he grabbed her from behind. May felt herself being pulled to the water's surface as Drew hauled her back to the shallow end of the pool with one arm.
"Drew!" she protested with his arm around her torso. "Nooo!"
The sound of Dawn's laughter reached her ears. She and Paul must've seen the whole thing.
"I'msorry," May laughed when Drew didn't respond.
He continued walking them to the pool's exit.
Paul's laughter joined in, and the thought of Paul laughing atanythingmade May laugh even harder.
"Let me go," she said, her words broken apart with giggles. "I won't splash you anymore, I promise."
Drew's grip on her loosened and he faced her, a subdued grin on his lips. "You promise?"
"Yes," she said quietly.
"Are you just saying that because you want me to stay in the pool?"
She paused and assessed the answer to his question. "Yes."
He shook his head at her, his gaze falling on her lips for a moment. "You're such a water-type."
"No, I'm not," she argued. "What'sthatsupposed to mean?"
He shook his head again. "You're the most fiery water-type I've ever met in my life."
"You can't just keep saying that as if it's true," she said.
She climbed the steps to exit the pool, using the handrail as support.
"It is," Drew said factually. "Speaking of water, how much water have you had today?"
"Mmm," she hummed in thought.
She could feel him following close behind her as she exited the pool.
"That's not enough," he murmured.
They rejoined Dawn and Paul, but when May sat down on her beach chair, Drew didn't hesitate to share the chair with her. He handed her an unclaimed glass of water, and she took it, bringing it to her lips. When she handed it back to Drew, he took a swig himself before setting it back down on the side table.
Paul, who was still lazily lounging in his shaded beach chair, reached for a few towels to toss in their direction. Drew caught them and handed one to May, who brought the material to her face.
Dawn sat in the chair next to Paul, sporting her designer sunglasses.
"Well, that looked fun," she said.
"It was," Drew said, as he dried his hair.
May wondered if that was true. With the emotion of the moment dying down, she felt once again the creeping anxiety she hoped she'd left behind in the pool. Something could have happened between them, but whatever it was was severed abruptly by Drew. The sting of rejection was still fresh and aching, but she tried her best to bury it until later.
Dawn had told her that if she loved him, she should just love him. But what if it wasn't that simple? What if she was wrong? And what if May had known this all along?
Warm water rained against her shoulders and trailed down her back. May tilted her head back to shift the contact to the top of her head instead. Her hair grew heavy once again as she stared at the ceiling of their shared shower for just one more minute.
She was stalling. She was nervous.
Drew was on the other side of the four bathroom walls, somewhere in their suite. Possibly on the couch. Maybe on the bed. He'd taken a shower first since they'd both agreed that he wouldn't take nearly as long.
Yes, they shared an apartment, but they didn't normally share a bathroom. It was an odd feeling to know that she was standing unclothed just a few feet away from him, and about thirty minutes before, he had been doing the same.
Flashbacks of their moment in the pool earlier that day replayed again and again in her mind. She closed her eyes. So desperately, she wanted the gap between them to finally close. She wanted to set free those dangerous words she'd locked away, but Drew broke the moment. Her stomach ached as she remembered the look on his face when he refused to meet her eyes. Mournfully, she pondered what he might have done if she'd said those fragile words out loud.
The rest of their evening turned out to be relatively normal. They'd returned to their room after their time at the pool, resorting to eating pizza for dinner at the foot of their bed. Conversation, thankfully, was as easy as it always was. It was almost enough to convince her that nothing unusual happened between them. Almost.
May reopened her eyes, stretching thirty seconds for as long as she could, then gathered up her courage to turn the handle of the shower. The water flow halted abruptly, paddling against the shower floor as the current slowed. The room was quiet, except for the quiet dialogue of whatever was playing on the TV.
She stepped onto the bath mat and blanketed herself in the large, white resort towel that was waiting for her. After drying her hair and adorning herself with an old t-shirt and shorts, she stood before the closed bathroom door with her poolwear bundled in her arms.
This was fine. Everything was fine.
May slid open the pocket door, feigning nonchalance as she approached their shared bed. Her heart abandoned the rhythm they'd previously agreed upon, and she pursed her lips at the sight of Drew. He was sitting on the left side of the bed. The bedside lamp provided him with a slight amber glow, and his gaze was cast downwards into the book he was currently reading. His face lifted at the sound of her, and she could see the tinge of a golden tan beginning to set in his skin. His eyes looked even more striking with the additional contrast, and she was tempted to turn right back around and find shelter in the bathroom.
"Where'd you put your stuff?" she asked.
He pointed to the balcony. "Outside. I found a drying rack out there."
May nodded and opened the double doors. The world outside was dark and quiet, but the resort's three empty swimming pools glowed an iridescent blue. She hung her red one-piece next to Drew's shorts and returned to their suite.
Wordlessly, she climbed onto her side of their bed. Her hands distractedly played with the ends of her hair as she tried to pay attention to the humming television. A laugh track was played but she'd entirely missed the joke.
"You okay?" came Drew's voice.
"Hmm?" she hummed as she turned to face him, her expression probably giving her away.
Drew's eyebrows were slightly weighed down with concern. His book was closed with his forefinger wedged between the pages to preserve his place. He sat at the very edge of the bed, so far away that a sea of blankets stood between them.
"Are you comfortable with this?" he asked. "It's okay if you aren't."
She blinked. "Yeah."
"I could sleep on the couch," Drew continued. "Or even the floor. Either one."
A smile began to tug at May's lips, and it must have been contagious because the same happened to him. "Drew—"
"Or the tub, even."
May laid against her pillow to face him, her eyes going wide at the mention of the tub. "It'shuge. All it needs is a couple of blankets and it'd be so comfortable."
"I know," Drew said. "But I saw it first, so don't get any ideas."
The grin on her lips widened, and she rolled her eyes. "Technically,Isaw it first."
Drew turned onto his side, propping himself up with his elbow. "But it was my idea, obviously."
May raised her eyebrows deviously. "I'll fight you for it."
Drew chuckled. "Fight me how."
May shrugged and he laughed again. "Whatever I'm best at."
"Whatareyou best at?" he said. His gaze grew softer as he faced her.
"I'm the best at…" she paused, her eyes disconnecting from his as she thought about it. "I'm the best at choosing which movies to watch."
He nodded slightly. "That's true."
"And poffin-making."
"Also true."
"I could go on, really."
He grinned and shook his head. May could see his mind switch gears. "I think you're actually better at a lot of things."
Her eyes searched his face from the other side of the mattress. "Really?"
"Yeah," he said. He turned onto his back and gazed up at the ceiling. "You're better with people and with Pokémon. With living things in general. And you're better at finding the joy in life. Even when you're tired and you've given everything you've got, you still find more to give."
May's heart filled slowly as he continued on. She knitted her eyebrows as he spoke, cherishing the words as they fell from his lips.
"You're better at remembering birthdays and, out of the two of us," he said, "you're the better friend."
"Drew," she said. "You're an incredible friend to me."
He faced her again, something serious reflecting in his eyes. "Yeah?"
"Yeah, you're the best I have," she said. "It's not even close."
He pondered on that for a bit, his gaze flitting between the various ridges in the linen landscape of their bed.
"I mean it, though," he said after a while. "I know we used to do this kind of thing all the time, but I also know we're not kids anymore. So just say the word."
"It's fine." May tucked her hands under her cheek. "It doesn't bother me."
He nodded.
"I am hungry, though," she admitted.
Drew immediately flopped back onto his back and pinched the bridge of his nose. "May—"
"Iknow—"
"We just got to bed."
"I know," she pleaded. "But can you come with me? I think there's a snack bar in the lobby."
She watched him wrestle for a few moments before she added more to her argument.
"You can comewithmeee…" she added, her tone stretching the words into sing-song. "And get a snackkk…"
Drew's eyes were still covered by his hand, but May watched as a smile cracked slowly across his face. He sat up slowly and turned away from her, stepping onto the floor.
"Okay, but we have to come right back."
Before he could change his mind, May hopped out of bed and onto the cold tile. She grabbed a pair of socks from her suitcase and slipped them over her feet. A stolen glance at Drew revealed that he was already waiting for her by the door, leaning against the kitchenette counter with his arms crossed. He could feign annoyance all he wanted, but May could tell he thought it was funny.
She crossed the floor and opened the door to their suite.
"We're coming right back, right?" he asked.
She looked over her shoulder at him with a smile. "Of course!"
