Summary–After pondering the biggest obstacle in Drew and May's "relationship", the gang decide to help with a devious plan that can only lead to bad things. Starts with a cube. Some jealousy, confusion and bad acting mixed in. Ends...period.

Disclaimer–I do not own Pokémon, which belongs to its respective owner(s) and is only being used in a fan-made, fictional story.

xoxo

Title–And she's so dense sometimes

Chapter 3–And an End

By–Moon Prynces

xoxo

"Yea, well we all know your acting's bad anyway," he stated.

"Hey!" she protested.

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Everybody once again entered the scene from seemingly opposite directions, and coincidentally met up in the middle of the pokémon center's lobby. It was agreed that they would head out for dinner – though arguing over who would pay.

"So when are you guys gonna hit the road again? I can hardly imagine Ash settling down and giving up the next adventure," Drew said, folding his arms and smirking.

"When you put it like that..." Ash started off, thinking. Pikachu was perched on his shoulder, watching observantly.

"Soon I guess," Misty replied with a shrug. "We're in no hurry. There's not much going on at the moment. Well, nothing that I've heard about anyway."

Brock nodded along. "Right. Me either. I guess we should come up with a plan later."

Max coughed, only noticed by one person.

"What about you Drew? Are you planning on leaving us so soon?" May asked, looking over at the boy.

Drew stared at her longer than he meant to. Then he grinned. "If you're going to be so obvious about missing me I might just stick around longer."

The brunette made a face. "Right, that'll be the day."

Ash's eyes lingered around, pretending he didn't notice a thing as Brock and Misty were pointing at different places to eat.

"Oh come on! We should have a real meal for once! All that junk food isn't gonna help you get the girls any more than you do now, Brock," Misty was complaining, stopping her stride and forcing the rest of them to do so as well.

At this the breeder made a sour face. "Alright," he agreed. "But then you're paying for it."

In the background May, Ash, Max and Pikachu were going 'hoorah!' in chibi forms. Drew just stared at them all strangely as Misty sighed and gave in to her fate.

"Nice choice," Drew commented as they all walked in, and someone took them to be seated. "You sure you have the money for this?"

Misty crossed her arms. "I don't have a choice, do I?"

As they reached a table, Drew, who had been walking close behind the redhead, quickly moved to pull out a chair for her. Everyone else stared at the gesture, stunned. Even Misty eyed him warily before sitting down and thanking him. Then he took the seat next to her, with Ash shooting him a confused look, and taking the seat on her other side.

"So much for manners," Drew said, pretending to talk to himself.

May was the only one still standing, right across from her rival and eyeing him. "Well then why didn't you pull out a chair for me?" she asked, annoyed.

He glanced at her briefly, uninterested. "I did it for the lady."

The brunette fumed before taking her own seat. "Jerk," she muttered.

"See. A lady would keep her language in check," he went on, looking at her again.

"But Misty's said, and even done, tons of things that–" May was cut off from her argument as the waitress came over, wondering who let the group of kids into the restaurant.

Max fidgeted as he looked over the menu. Brock was already ogling the girl, who was only a few years older than himself. Pikachu, who had been quiet the whole time, was wondering why there wasn't any ketchup on the table yet.

"I'll have the steak!" Ash suddenly announced, before the girl had a chance to question them, her mouth open.

Misty groaned at the expensive price she'd be paying to feed the black hole known as Ash's stomach.

"Actually, I just need to know what you'd like to drink," the waitress looked around at the group. "I'll give you guys a few more minutes to decide."

Ash looked disheartened. Pikachu was sitting on the table and peering at the menu himself.

"But I could just take your order right now, if you want," the girl said quickly, giving Ash a quick smile.

"No way," Misty objected. "How is that fair to everyone else? And I'm the one footing the bill, so there's no way that's happening."

Although Drew had a plan in mind before the night had begun, he knew better than to interrupt the eternal war that was Ash and Misty's natural conflict.

Ash shot her a look. "You just have to ruin the evening for someone, don't you?"

"Okay, okay. That's enough guys," Brock said, looking between the two and then giving the waitress an apologetic smile. "Ash can wait until everyone's ready to order because Misty is the one paying."

Everyone agreed, with Misty looking smug and Ash grumbling reluctantly. May looked around at her friends, staring at Drew after everyone else.

"So, what did you think about what I asked earlier?" May suddenly questioned.

Drew glanced up to see her gaze on him. "What?"

"About traveling with us! It'd be great, right? What do you think?" May questioned, looking excited once more.

The green-haired boy just rolled his eyes. "That again? Why bother? You already have a whole caravan with you, including all the unpleasant moments." At this he discreetly glanced at Misty and Ash.

Max stared around as Brock ignored them, still looking at his menu. And the night went on, not going according to plan and Max was starting to think his dare was just undoable.

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"Geez, that went well," he commented with heavy sarcasm.

"I say it's Misty's fault. She's so busy taking out her sexual frustration on Ash that there's no way–"

"What?"

She snorted. "And they say who's dense?"

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Twelve hours later Drew was coming in from a walk to find May already in the pokémon center's lobby. And not by herself.

She was chatting up her great coordinating skills to some guy who looked so vastly interested...that Drew assumed he must be faking it. He shrugged and walked by.

Two hours later, after Drew came in from training with his newest pokémon, May was still talking to the same kid – this time about unrelated pokémon topics. She was currently describing her home life with 'an annoying little brother'.

Another glance around revealed that Brock was sitting at a table with Max and Ash, a map spread out on the table in front of the three.

Then May giggled at something said by the boy and Drew found himself inviting his presence to their table.

"Oh, hi Drew," May said, looking up with a little surprise. The boy next to her was still grinning in her direction.

"I see your friends are already planning their escape from this town," Drew responded with a hair flip, something that hadn't been done in ages.

"Yeah," she replied, looking at the three briefly. "What about you?" Someone cleared their throat. May whipped around. "Oh! This is Jay. He's a pokémon trainer from this town. And that's Drew."

Drew eyed the other boy carefully. "So then, don't you have a house of your own to go back to?"

The other boy smiled through this. "Well, I just like hanging out at the pokémon center to meet all the travelers and see all the pokémon that come through town." He turned his blue head of hair to May, still smiling. "And May's got some interesting stories to tell. I'm hoping to see her pokémon later."

"I don't have my pokéballs with me at the moment," May said.

The green-haired boy watched as they shared what could only be described as a "moment" with smiles and all. He wanted to choke on something.

"How do you know he's not trying to steal some techniques from you?" Drew asked with a smirk.

May looked up to glare at her 'best friend'. "Because Jay's a nice guy and wouldn't do that to anyone," she said with a strained smile. "You on the other hand, I'm still not sure about."

Even as he opened his mouth, Drew knew something was wrong and it might have started with that feeling in his gut...or stomach.

"Yeah, and that's why you're always hanging around me, right?" he shot back, still smirking. "And you know, maybe I was wrong. Why would he want to take techniques from you anyway?"

May was somehow in the same boat, wondering why she was letting Drew get to her and not dwelling on why he was acting this way. She rose from her seat, glaring at him.

"Get off your high horse! I've beaten you a bunch of times! And since when do you care who I show off my knowledge about coordinating to?" she said angrily.

"I don't!" Drew replied.

"Oh, is that why you came over here to bother me and my new friend?" May questioned with a clueless, obviously played out expression before settling back to her glare.

Drew was already rolling his eyes at her. "You just think everybody's your friend, don't you?" he said in disbelief.

"So what if I meet a new guy and..." Her words trailed off suddenly and something dawned on her, which her face showed.

"What?" Drew questioned cautiously.

"Are you..." May asked, whispering and leaning forward. "Are you jealous?" she asked incredulously.

"I–" He was at a loss for words. Then he looked around the room to find nearly everyone was hanging onto his silence, waiting. "Oh shoot," he smacked his forehead.

"I'm guessing that's a yes." They both looked over to Jay, who was looking at them studiously. He rose from his seat. "It's been nice talking to you May, but maybe you should clear things up with your...friend here, who I'm sure would make a great boyfriend if you give him the chance." With that Jay waved and was walking away.

Drew was still shaking his head to himself. "...totally messed this up..." he was mumbling to himself.

"Yeah, you did."

Drew did look up this time to find the rest of the group assembled next to him and May.

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"I'm surprised we aren't tied to the chairs or something," Drew said in a low voice, leaning to his left where May was also seated on a wooden chair.

"Misty and Ash wanted to, but it's a little harsh," Max responded, causing the two to look up at the boy.

Brock was sitting on his own chair in a corner, arms folded stoically over his chest and a frown on his face, apparently playing bad cop in this scenario. Max paced in front of the two.

"Where are Misty and Ash?" May suddenly questioned, hands on her knees.

Max waved a hand. "Dunno. But we just need to get down to the matter here."

Drew looked at the younger boy with a bored expression.

Brock jumped up from his chair, pointing an accusing finger at Drew. "You couldn't complete the dare!" he shouted in their relatively normal sized room.

The accused perked up at the words. "What?" was his confused tone. "How do you know–"

May stayed quiet to watch.

"I just told him," Max quickly interrupted, walking between the two.

Drew was already looking at them suspiciously. "Wait...he knew about it all along!" he accused back. "You told me I couldn't tell anyone, not even my pokémon!"

Max and Brock exchanged a look. "Okay, so maybe he did know. But you couldn't tell anyone because you weren't allowed to have any help! So it doesn't matter that I told him. It was just to make sure you didn't cheat." Brock nodded as Max spoke.

"Then what about Ash, Misty and Pikachu? Did they all know too?" Drew questioned, glancing at May, who only stared around at the three boys and playing her clueless card once again.

Brock snorted. "No way. They'd be bound to mess up something."

Everyone in the room agreed to that one, even May.

"Besides, they'd be the obvious choices to help carry out your dare. And if they knew it'd be too much acting for them," Max went on. "But I just told them a few minutes ago because it's all over now."

May suddenly raised her hand as if they were in a classroom. "What's going on?" she asked, looking around at them.

Max and Brock eyed her cautiously. "You have absolutely no idea what we're talking about?" Max questioned his sister.

May's brows furrowed. "Well...you mentioned the dare, so...that's all I've got."

Drew turned to look at her. "It doesn't matter now."

"Wait," Max interrupted. "You really don't know? Because just now it sounded like–"

"Like me asking Drew if he was jealous?" May asked with a triumphant smile, looking at Drew. "Why, yes, I was. Nice one, by the way. I didn't think you liked me so much," she said to him, batting her eyes for show.

Drew grumbled to himself, wishing his hands were tied to the back of the chair. He turned red and looked away. "I do not get jealous."

Brock and Max exchanged another look. "How about we give you guys some privacy so Drew can tell you all about what's been going on." The two nodded to each other and left the room.

When the door shut up, May was giggling uncontrollably as Drew shot up to pace around.

"Hey! Stop laughing," he said irritably. "That's not funny."

"Oh yes. It was," she responded, leaning back in the chair and stopping her laughter.

"Nice job to you too. I guess being clueless sometimes comes in handy. You must practice that face a whole lot," Drew turned to her with a smirk.

May glared. "Just be glad I'm even helping you out here. I could just tell them that I knew about your dare and plan since yesterday."

"And I could tell them how you got jealous over a cookie."

"I was not jealous!" she folded her arms. "Besides you were the one about to propose to it and all. It was just a cookie."

He quickly slid back into the seat. "So now what? I just totally screwed up the dare and he'll probably make me do another one, like..." Drew stopped, thinking hard. "Wait. What's the best way to make May blow up while she's jealous?" he asked himself, looking down in thought, a grin slowly coming together. "By asking her outright if she is!"

May stared at him with half-lidded eyes. "Um, could you stop talking to yourself?" she sighed. "And you know, I really don't think this dare is even possible. I don't get jealous."

Drew looked up with a sly expression. "Hey, remember that time last year when you saw me hanging out with a bunch of girls after a contest? And how you came up to congratulate me on my," he smirked, "Victory over you?" May watched him carefully and nodded slowly. "And I said you might as well join my group of fan girls if you're gonna be following me around all the time?"

The girl was slowly remembering how irritated she had been when he said these things. And she was getting angry just hearing it again. "Yeah," she replied through gritted teeth. "And I told you I wouldn't ever be a fan girl to you or anybody else. And that I don't follow you around."

"And I said it was okay that you just couldn't come to terms with how you feel, because until then I would always have company," Drew said, grinning widely.

May looked away and pretended to be uninterested. "And I...I don't know, insulted them or something?" She gave a big yawn.

"No," Drew stretched out the word, shaking his head with that grin. "You said it was quality over quantity. That I probably needed a girl with more substance, like you."

She blinked. "Did I say that? That can't be what I said." She looked at him, her brows together.

He nodded. "So," he started off, "Were you...jealous?"

xoxo

"What are you doing?"

The two boys jumped and turned around to find Misty, Ash and Pikachu standing there giving them weird looks.

"We were just...trying to hear what's going on. Drew's telling May about the dare. And they don't know that you guys were in on it too. I told them Brock was the only other person," Max said.

Misty was interested. "So what did she say?"

Max shook his head as Brock answered, "We haven't been able to hear anything. They're either talking really low...or not talking at all."

The group looked around with raised brows and small grins. Pikachu looked up from where he was on the ground and shook his head.

"Of course I wasn't jealous!" she shouted from behind the door.

The five of them looked up.

"I thought you couldn't hear–" Misty started.

"Shh!" Max responded.

Brock slowly opened the door to the scene before them. They all stared incredulously as Drew was taking tentative steps around the two chairs to keep distance between him and May, though she kept advancing anyway.

"How could you even think that?!" she asked loudly.

"It's just a question," Drew said with a smirk, moving cautiously. "And with the way you're making such a big deal out of it makes me think it's true."

May glared hard. "Why would I be jealous of some stupid girls who can't tell the difference between a Butterfree and a Beautifly!" she shouted, her voice becoming louder. "What makes you think you're the center of the universe anyway? Just because you won a few contests doesn't mean you're a god or something!"

Drew stopped walking, and May stopped a few feet away. "I may not be the center of the universe, but I must be the center of your attention sometimes, aren't I?" he questioned arrogantly, ignoring the flip in his stomach and instead flipping his hair.

The brunette made a frustrated sound to cover the fact that her ears were getting warm. "You're only the center of my attention when I'm trying to beat you to a pulp in competition," May retaliated.

Max looked to the others and they all nodded.

"Hey, guys! I think you should all just calm down now," Ash interrupted, walking between the two and looking back and forth at them.

"Oh please," May rolled her eyes and folded her arms. "Why don't you take Misty to a dark corner and make-out already?"

At this the two mentioned started changing color. Drew snickered.

"And for the last time," May started, taking a deep breath. "I don't get jealous!" she shouted.

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"What just happened?"

The group assembled consisted of Misty, Ash, Max and Brock – sitting around one of the tables in the lobby, all looking dazed. Ash and Misty however could hardly glance at each other.

"I think...he just completed the dare," Brock stumbled out.

"And then accused Ash and Misty of having feelings for each other," Max continued, making the said two wince.

Brock sighed. "I guess the truth has to come out sometime." Max nodded along before speaking.

"You two are totally into each other."

"Might as well listen to May's advice."

They both spoke at the same time, staring Ash and Misty in the face and forcing them to look back.

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"Thanks, you definitely saved me," Drew said, running his hands through his hair in an almost nervous manner.

"No problem, you started it," May replied, looking nonchalant. "Although maybe I did it too well," she put a finger to her lip and made a face. "Wonder how long it'll be before Ash and Misty can look at each other again."

Drew looked over to her sitting on his bed, before seating himself next to her. "Nah, it was good," he said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

May rolled her eyes. "I don't get why everyone thinks I'm so dense! If they would just tell me what's going on I wouldn't look like such an idiot!" she complained.

He smirked, shaking his head. "Aw, but you're so cute when you're clueless."

She turned to look at him slowly and Drew was wishing he'd swallowed his words at the unreadable expression she was wearing. Then she smiled. "Oh, so there's the Drew I remember! You have been acting a little strange the past few days."

He covered the sigh of relief by snorting at her words. "It's probably from hanging around your friends for so long."

"Hey! They're you're friends now too!"

"Great, now I'll look like an idiot all the time."

May smiled up at him sweetly. "You already do, sweetheart."

They stared at each other a moment, before there was a quick movement.

Outside the room and down the hall, the rest of the group watched as two people came running out into the lobby. Drew grinned while chasing May, who was laughing uncontrollably as she ducked people and pokémon while trying to escape the imminent attack.

"At least they're not in denial anymore," Brock said as the four watched.

"Yup, won't be long now," Max responded, chin in his hand.

Ash and Misty stayed quiet. They also noticed as Pikachu walked into the scene with a group of pokémon belonging to other trainers that he'd been hanging out with.

Max looked up at Brock. "We could try shock therapy next time!"

xoxo

Just outside, Drew paused in his chase as he caught May turn back with her bright smile, watching him.

And then he pounced, coming up lucky. The nervous feeling finally gave way to something even better than hearing his name being called by the announcer in a stadium full of strangers. Instead his name was being called out by a girl, trying to avoid the tickle attack he was implementing.

xo end xo

Okay, so no great ending there. But that's it. Cute, weird and strangely unsatisfying, I know. I hate it when my work comes out like this, which it's been doing a lot lately. Everything's so below my standards.

Anyway, hope you liked at least a little bit of it. Check out my other works, they're better.

12-1-07

Okay, this should be added in a few days (from writing this) and just wanted to say thank you all so much for a great response this story and my others have received over the past few days!

And if you're becoming a fan of me or of my work then you can always check my profile to see what I'm up to!

Once again, THANKS so much!

12-5-07

7:12pm