Notes: Here's the next chapter! Thank you to those of you who left kudos and thank you to my reviewer ! I'm glad you enjoyed it! Hope this doesn't disappoint. This is the chapter I struggled with, since it's the first chapter where May and Paul interact the most since the first chapter. So the OOC is pretty obvious, it does get better in the next couple chapters, at least I think so. Another additional note, there is language and there is a very short fight scene, nothing graphic or explicit, since I'm not very good at writing fighting scenes but just wanted to let you all know just in case. There are mentions and talk about terminal illness throughout the story if you don't like reading things like these or if it triggers you please don't read!

(Bold italics = text messages between characters)

(Italics = flashback or emphasis on something)

Faraway/Outcryshipping, some PokéShipping, AmourShipping, possibly Dawn/Drew or Dawn/Gary, mentions of other shippings.

Chapter Four: Probably a bad idea

The next few days went by quickly, May was able to put the conversation with her father behind her, and Paul was adjusting well with full time school and work. He noticed he gravitated towards May mostly he didn't understand why but he did but he attributed it to her being a familiar face. They would sometimes talk, or more like she would talk and he would listen. Other times they were in each other's company in a comfortable silence. They had even developed looks they would give each other when they couldn't speak or weren't close and that has come to be helpful with getting angry, violent or just overly handsy out of the bar. Paul also found he didn't dislike working with Courtney and N. They didn't speak to each other too often, as they were working and didn't take breaks together but when they interacted o they weren't annoying. For the most part coworkers minded their business and didn't get involved unless there was a reason to.

He stood in the corner with a good view of everything. It wasn't busy yet- but it was Friday and it would, according to May, start getting busy around nine. Around ten minutes later he watched a woman and man walk in together and sat down in May's section. She was so effortless in how she talked to people, making them feel comfortable asking if they knew what they wanted, knew when to back off and give them space and time for themselves and when to talk, you would think they were friends for a while. However something seemed off about the young man that accompanied the blonde. He would get closer to her only for her to move away to leave some space, placing his hand around her waist. She managed to move his hand off, but ended up holding hands instead. She seemed to relax when he made no motion to pull away.

'He's acting weird. I'm going to have to keep an eye on him.'

Glancing around the area, nothing noteworthy was going on. The section in the back wasn't too busy. There was a group of maybe a group of coworkers from a corporation, they had suits in the back drinking and watching the baseball game. But that was it, that section was relatively empty and it wasn't too busy yet. No one else was acting out of place or suspicious so he was most likely working. Half an hour had passed and nothing else happened and the pair were just talking so he was about to go and walk to do a round around when he noticed that the man slipped something out of his back pocket, a clear bag with two pills. May had her back turned grabbing something from the shelf behind her and the blonde had excused herself to go to the bathroom, when he took one of the pills and put it in her drink and slipped the bag back into his pocket . May turned back to the two and handed them a napkin and Paul decided that he needed to get to May fast and intervene quickly, fighting the urge to just quite literally throw the man out of the vicinity. The purple haired man walked over to May, he placed his elbows on the table.

"May I need to talk to you." he said, he noticed she was about to retort, "Now." he stated firmly. Getting the message she nodded. Turning to the young man she excused herself and followed Paul to the corner section of her bar section side away from earshot but not too far to keep an eye out for the blonde. Leaning down to her ear he said, "Don't let the blonde with the pink shirt drink her drink. Her date spiked it.'

She tilted her head slightly to her left her eyebrows furrowed obviously confused

"When did he even…"

"When she excused herself away from the table and you had your back turned."

"Shit…"

She looked up and then stared into his eyes and said, "I'm going to go tell her. Stay here or close by in case this goes south or she gets back before I find her."

Nodding in response he stayed as she rushed off to the bathroom in search of the blonde woman.

The brunette walked into the bathroom, heart beating fast. She hoped she didn't miss the woman. As luck would have it she heard a flush followed by a woman stepping out of the stall. May sighed in relief that she had caught up to her before she headed back. She waited for her to wash her hands before she approached her.

"Hey."

"Oh hey." she smiled but noticing how May was nervous and didn't reciprocate the smile was beginning to make her anxious. she waited in silence for a few moments before the brunette spoke up again.

"I have to tell you something."

The blue eyed beauty frowned and walked closer towards the brunette. Placing her hand on the other woman's shoulder she asked softly.

"What is it?"

"Don't take a sip of your drink please, your date spiked it."

Her eyes widened and she gasped in shock.

"Are you're sure of this?"

"My coworkers saw him slip it in when I wasn't paying attention and you got up to come to the restroom. I'm sorry."

"Oh my gosh what do I do?"

"I'm going to help you okay, I know this is scary but I'm here for you ."

"But...how?"

"I have an idea, but you're going to have to follow my lead okay? But please don't take anything he offers you."

With a deep sigh she looked into May's eyes and gave her a smile.

"Alright, let's do this."

May sent a text to Courtney, then turned her attention back to Serena.

"Good. Let's get you out of here."

The two women walked out of the bathroom and looked at each other. With a nod they initiated their plan. Serena walked back first and was going to act as if she didn't know what he'd done. May waited a minute before she started walking back to her section. Once again she greeted them as well as the other patron that had sat himself in her section. She busied herself serving the other man, while performing other tasks all while keeping an eye on them. She happened to see Paul and they made eye contact. The brunette tilted her head to the left with a side eye roll. He got the message it was to keep an eye on the man, just in case things go bad.

"Go on babe, take a drink. It's starting to get warm."

May's eyes met Serena's and she gave the blonde a smile.

"Oh, did you want me to make you a new drink?"

"No, she already has one so paying for a new one when she hasn't even touched hers would be pointless." the man waved off her offer.

"No worries, it's on the house." the brunette insisted.

"That would be lovely." the blonde told her, completely ignoring what her date had said .

May got to making the new drink and she overheard them hush talking.

"Just drink the one I bought." was the irritated response.

"No, the ice has practically melted so it's watered down."

"I'm paying for it so you're going to drink it!"

The blonde was glad this was happening, she could see the man's true personality and not the facade he had put on the entire time they spent texting and calling prior to their date. The man was probably some sort of criminal, so she had definitely had dodged a bullet.

"You drink it." the blonde retorted, crossing her arms over her chest.

A pause.

May smirked knowingly, waiting for his response, she caught him off guard with her quick reply. There was a hint of sass to the way she said it that May knew she had spunk and was also starting to see the scumbag for who he was.

"I already drank my beer and since I'm driving I won't be partaking in any more drinking so as to not be under the influence when I drive back."

"You shouldn't drive even if you only had one drink."

May turned around with a new drink in hand. "Then you can drink her original drink and she can have this one. You guys go on and drink, get to know each other. I can always call a cab for both of you if need be." the brunette said.

May was getting nervous, he was starting to get angrier and she wondered what was keeping Courtney, she had texted her earlier to help. Seconds later as luck would have it, the lilac hair woman walked up towards them, May nodded towards the man and she nodded back before bumping into the man resulting in her spilling a drink she was holding on him.

"Oops I'm terribly sorry." she exclaimed in her most believable fake apologetic tone.

The man stood up enraged, "Sorry, don't cut it! You bitch, this suit is expensive!"

Courtney gave the man a warning look. "Sir watch your tone, I can have you forcibly removed for the premise if you're going to be irate or make a scene. I already apologized."

The man let out a sigh and and regained his composure giving a fake smile. "I'm sorry for my words." turning to his blonde date, he also apologized "Sorry you had to see that. I'm going to head to the bathroom. I'll be back."

"Sure."

When he was out of sight, May smiled at Courtney, "Thanks for the assist."

"No problem babe, come find me if you need me or text." she told her, heading to the front for a smoke and talk to Blaise.

"I will."

Turning her attention to Serena, lifting the bar counter up she motioned for the blonde to step through.

"Let's get you out of here before he gets back."

May and Serena walked out one of the many backdoors the building had.May had held her hands just so that if they had to run they wouldn't get separated.

"Are you sure you're not going to get in trouble?"

"Don't worry about it, I'll use one of my fifteen minute breaks as my cover."

"But I feel bad."

"Don't… It's not like this is your fault anyway."

" I'm…"

"No it's okay. You did nothing, I decided to help you so that's all there is to it."

"Thank you."

The brunette pushed another door open and peaked out seeing it was clear she gently pulled her into the alleyway the trucks came to deliver their supplies and merchandise so it wasn't accessible from the outside.

"Did you come in his car?" May asked

"Yeah."

"Do you live close or far? Did he pick you up from your house? Because if he did…"

"I live close but he picked me up from a local pastry shop, thankfully I didn't tell him where I live."

"I'll call you a cab hold on." she said sighing in relief.

Serena bit her lip as she waited. It had been a hell of a night. One minute she was on a date with a guy she thought she had gotten to know well the last month to probably almost being a victim either a victim of a murder or a kidnapping. She shuddered as she thought about it. Shaking those thoughts away she turned to see May put her cellphone away.

"Cab company said they'd be here in about 10 minutes," the door creaked open and out walked Courtney, "I asked her to stay with you until the cab gets here, I would stay but I don't want to have your date get suspicious and put two and two together. I may also be able to stall him if I'm back in time." The lilac haired woman nodded at the brunette's plan Serena hesitated but in the end relented.

"That makes sense."

"I hope you get home safely. Take care of yourself." May turned around to walk back inside.

"Wait."

Turning back around she was met by the blonde running to her and embracing her in a hug. She hugged back and when they pulled away Serena spoke first.

"Thank you for helping me out, I appreciate it."

Shaking her head, May added, "No need to thank me, just happy to help. Now take care okay." With a smile she waved goodbye to the blonde and headed back to work.

Surprisingly, the rest of their shift was uneventful and surprisingly the man had been calm when he came back and saw that his date had bailed on him. May, who by that time had been back, had started serving other patrons, and was able to make limited interaction with the man, who had actually sat down at the bar waiting for Serena. He had asked May if she knew where she had gone but she had told him no, she got up and left without saying a word. He waited an hour before paid his tab and walked out without any problem. Paul watched him as he did and made sure to keep an eye for him in case he did come back, but he never did. At least not while they were open. That all happened around midnight and now it was fifteen past three and Paul made his way out to his parked car, stepping out into the cool brisk air. It felt nice in comparisson to the smoky, suffocating atmosphere inside the bar. Getting in his car and immediately locking the doors he sat as the car warmed up, when movement caught his attention. He squinted as it was dark and couldn't see but then thanks to his headlights illumination he was able to see a shadow. Looking forward he noticed two trash cans, was there someone hiding behind them?

'Who the fuck is going to hide behind the trash cans of a bar at three in the morning. Unless maybe one of the patrons walked out drunk and fell asleep out here.'

However, that was quickly proven wrong when he noticed the figure walk out from their hiding place, walking slowly towards the door. The door opened and them slammed closed revealing May. She didn't notice him, he was parked at the far end of the lot, as she zipped up her hood. That's when the figure sprinted, walking briskly behind the brunette. Paul knew immediately what was about to happen.

'Shit!' he thought. He cursed himself for always parking so far away from the building. Turning his car off he turned and pulled his keys out, stepping out of the car quietly and quickly. He didn't alarm it in case that he had to grab May and get inside quickly.

As quietly as he could he walked leaving enough space between so if he turned around it wouldn't be obvious he was following him. What happened next went in slow motion in his head but he was sure it all happened in a matter of minutes. The man grabbed May from behind, brandishing a pocket knife. He watched the man instruct her to walk with him when she used her elbow to deliver a blow straight to his gut. He dropped the knife and she kicked it out of sight when the man loosened his grip on her. The man groaned in pain but got up.

"Bitch, you're going to regret doing that." he sneered.

Paul made it over to the man before he could make a grab at May once more and spun him around, the man landed a punch right on his lip and he let out a hiss feeling the blood drop down the side of his chin.

"What the fuck man back off, she's mine, she owes me because the girl I came with left."

"I don't think so." Paul said lowly as his fist connected with the man's jaw from the left, the man then fell to the floor, the fall knocking the wind out of him momentarily. While the man hissed in pain he grabbed May's hand and the two sped off to his car before the man could get back up.

"Get in." he told her as he slid into the driver's side once she was in, he locked the door, put his car in drive and peeled out of the parking lot.

Once they were about two lights down at the next red light, he glanced in her direction, she was trembling and she was breathing hard, "Where do you live?"

Licking her lips she answered, her voice barely a whisper, "I'm house sitting so I'm staying there. it's about 35 minutes away."

"It's fine, just tell me how to-"

"I can just take the bus, it's fine…"

"No!" He breathed in, trying to relax wanting not to scare her, "Look you were about to probably be kidnapped. I'm not going to leave you at a bus stop at this late in the morning, with the man still wandering around the area. Maybe he'll get the idea to not come back maybe he won't. You shouldn't take that chance."

"Okay," she said as the light turned green, "you take this street about five more lights down until you hit Sunnyvile Dr." she said as he followed her directions to her temporary home.

The two walked into the house in the dark. Closing the door behind her she flipped the light switch. Little pitter patters could be heard as Sparky walked up to them. The man looked at May.

"It's ok, he's a good dog and won't bite." The lab sniffed the man and then walked to May and began to wag his tail and began nudging her towards the kitchen.

"I know, I know you're hungry. Let me get you some food."

She turned to Paul, "I'll be right back, let me take care of Sparky then I'll look for the first aid kit."

"It's fine, I can just go," he told her. His lip hurt and he was tired and just wanted to lay down.

"Please, just stay."

Paul let out a deep breath and winced as he did, as moving his lip hurt, so he just sat on one of the accent chairs in the living room. About ten minutes later May appeared with a first aid kit.

May held onto Paul's shoulders as she used the other hand to wipe off his lip with a cotton ball dipped in a saltwater solution. He let out a hiss in pain making the woman retract her arm back before muttering an apology.

"Sorry." she whispered. She carefully dabbed the cotton ball over his lip, and checked it over. "On the bright side, your lip doesn't look like it'll require any stitches, it is split but it's not deep. Is that the only punch he managed to land on you?

"Yeah."

"I'm going to wipe it again with a new cotton ball with just water, is that okay?"

Paul shrugged she already had done so, so it didn't really matter to him now. "Sure."

He closed his eyes and braces for the sensation of pain but thankfully it was more of a dull ache. Inhaling he took note of her perfume. It was both warm and floral, not overwhelming so, it was nice, sweet like a creamsicle, almost citrusy mixed with a light floral. It was calming even if it was mixed slightly with the scent of cigarettes, that couldn't be helped with where they worked. He opened his eyes and watched as she lightly dabbed. His eyes trailed up, taking in her features, her lips were heart shaped, her cheeks were full and rosy, her nose was small and round with a cute, slight upturned tip. It gave her a youthful appearance. Her eyes were wide and a beautiful shade of blue. Her skin looked soft and for a second he thought if he was right, before mentally scolding himself. Why did that thought even cross his mind? She must have sensed him staring because her eyes met his. That happened a lot with them. Had she noticed it too?

"All done, I left the moisturizer out, you can apply it when you want." she whispered and gave him a smile and he could only nod. Stepping back she picked up the used cotton swabs and the ointment and walked to the kitchen to throw it away. She stepped back into the living room with phone in hand.

"You can stay. I texted Richie, he's cool with it." biting her lip she then added, "but if you want to leave you can, just wanted to ask in advance out of respect."

He sat there contemplating. He really did want nothing more than to go home but that was 30 minutes away, and he honestly didn't want to drive anymore, it was nearly five in the morning.

"I'll stay but I'm going to go buy coffee at the café around the corner. Do you want one?" he offered.

"Yes, thank you."

"I'll be right back."

Notes: And that's the end. I originally didn't plan on keeping this chapter but decided to keep it last minute as if it wasn't kept in I would make no sense. Let me know what you all thought though. Oh and if anyone knows where I can find active beta readers please let me know I would appreciate it. See y'all in the next chapter!