A/N: Welcome to the episode for character and relationship building. Or some canon filler, if you will. And only filler because there's—gasp!—nothing but teenagers spending their Saturday doing something that's not dragon-involved.

I guess?

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plote line. Kudos to Satoshi Tajiri completely.

Saturdays were supposed to be simple days: freedom from school, planned activities for children by their parents, students avoid completing homework that was due by Monday. They were especially perfect when one had to avoid thoughts of . . . certain incidences that had occurred recently.

That morning she'd woken alone in the living room, the curtains pulled all the way shut and her blanket draped over her. Paul was nowhere to be seen, and she could only assume that he'd crept back up to his room at some point while she was unconscious. Maybe he hadn't actually fallen asleep, only relaxed enough to seem so, she'd pondered. The embarrassment hadn't hit her until she'd fully realized her situation and just what had occurred the night before. Her face burned almost the entire time she cleaned up her haggard face and hair—good grief, it was worse than usual!

It wasn't until she remembered she had to go feed Glammy's kittens that she got fully dressed. Slipping quietly out the door after grabbing her keys, she jogged down the street to her house. It was quiet as she went about her daily duty of caring for their Catty companions with quick feet. All that adrenaline from last night buzzed somewhere deep, and she tried to ignore the feeling as she trotted upstairs with fresh water and the new bag of Glammy's special recipe kibble. When she saw the bathroom door open she dropped the food, water sloshing over the lip of the bowl.

Oh crap.

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"Here kitty, kitty, kitty," the blunette cooed in a sickeningly sweet tone as she tried to coax the kittens out of hiding. Wherever they could be, at least. Luckily Glammy's hadn't gone too far, snoozing on her bed in Johanna's room.

Crawling around on all fours on hardwood was definitely not how Dawn pictured spending her day. Especially since the kittens were supposed to have been shut in the bathroom with Glammy for the time being. They must have slipped out at some point without her mother noticing, and now she was stuck with the misfortune of finding them. Swell, she grumbled internally.

"You know, not all cats respond to that kind of call."

With a huff, the blunette peered over her shoulder. She glared at Paul, who she'd practically begged to come help her when she couldn't find any of the small Glameows in the house. "Yes, well, Glammy usually does. I just can't believe she'd let them wander off like this. She's been so attached to them these past few weeks." Pushing to her feet, she brushed off her poor knees as she crossed the living room to the stairs.

He didn't make a move to follow her. "Maybe she wanted some peace and quiet away from them. Don't cats usually stop caring about their litter after a while anyway?" he called after her as she ascended to the second floor.

Rolling her eyes, she answered, "Every cat is different. Glammy's never had kittens before, so I'm afraid she really will abandon her first litter. I've seen it happen before with wild Meowth and Delcatty–it always depends on the situation and the mother's temperament, I think."

Actually, if she were being completely honest with herself, Dawn wasn't exactly as confident about that bit of information as she'd tried to sound. Sure, she'd seen enough documentaries where some wild cat Pokemon leave their young behind; but it was usually only in situations where they were in danger and the mother couldn't save them. Most of the time it revolved around the unfortunate chances of running into wild dogs, ones that were usually malicious and had no mercy on the vulnerable young.

Nature is depressing, she thought as she peered through open doorways. Frowning, she was left scratching her head when she found no trace of them in any of the upstairs room. Just where could they have scampered off to?

Paul's voice called up the stairs. "Uh, hey, Troublesome—"

She sighed in aggravation. ""I've told you time and time again that that is not my name—"

"Yeah, yeah. Shut up and come here."

Huffing impatiently at his tone, she stomped down to the ground level. Once on the bottom step she crossed her arms, glaring daggers at him as she demanded, "Just what is it that is more important than—" but she sputtered to a stop when she saw what the boy was holding: two squirming, small Glameow kits mewling for their mother.

"Oh, my gosh!" Rushing forward, she took them both from him, holding them close. They continued to whine and try to escape, but she kept her grip firm so she wouldn't drop them. "Just where did you find them?"

Raising his chin in the general direction of the couch he said, "Found them behind there. They were meowing pathetically. Looked like they got stuck under the frame."

Puzzled, she blinked. She could have sworn that she'd already looked under there. Did they manage to scuttle under it when she was upstairs?

"Wait, we're missing one."

Two springy tail continually smacked against her arms as she carried them back over to the couch they'd been freed from. She made a fort out of the decorative pillows in hope of blocking them in, mostly to prevent them from falling to the floor and running off again. But, as quick as she set it up they knocked it over. Sighing in aggravation, she searched for a basket or a box to hold them in for the time being.

"Here." Paul handed her a small clothes basket.

"That'll work."

Quickly tucking the kittens into the basket with a small blanket for comfort, she carried it at her hip as she continued to scour the living room. There weren't very many places the last one could hide; with it being the largest room in the house, that just created more problems.

"Cats like high places, right?" Paul was in the kitchen area opening every door along the cabinets, the sound resounding when he closed each one.

"Usually, yeah," the blunette answered as she checked around the fireplace. The mantle was clear besides her mother's awards and the clock that sat above it, tick tick ticking away. It almost felt as if it were mocking her. "I don't know about month old kittens, though."

Nothing was left unturned as they flipped almost everything in the living room upside down. It wasn't until there was a painful cramp that throbbed across her lower back that Dawn even thought about pausing her search. Carrying the kittens was taking a lot out of her, especially since they wouldn't stop trying to escape the basket. She was crouching down next to them, attempting to hush their insistent cries, when she had an idea. If they mewled like this just from being in captivity, she wondered how the other one would fare being by itself for so long. Being such social creatures, she knew that it had to be feeling lonely by now, if not somewhat lost in the house. Would it be crying just like its siblings?

As she pondered, Dawn's attention was taken away from the kittens for a moment, but a moment was all that was needed. This lapse gave one of them the opportunity to lash out, swiping at her face. She gave a cry of surprise as sharp claws snagged at her cheek. It caught her off guard so much that she fell backwards, accidentally knocking the basket over with her foot in the process. Taking advantage of their newfound freedom, the kittens managed to skitter away from the teenagers. They clambered up the stairs, leaving them in the dust with springy swishes of their tails.

Cheeky brats. Dawn could only watch from her spot on the floor as they ran off. Luckily she'd fallen against the rug in front of the couch, so she wasn't very worse for wear. Her pride, on the other hand, was thoroughly thrashed. Taken down by a pair of kittens. Arceus, he's never going to let me live this down.

Rubbing at her scratched skin, she rolled to her knees. When she inspected her hand, she found that there was a thin trail of blood across her fingertips. Guess it got me pretty good. Thankfully they were too young to know any battle moves, or else it could have made sashimi out of her if it really tried. She shuddered at the thought.

"Guess that means we're back to square one." The blunette glanced up to see Paul holding out a hand. For a moment she hesitated, but dashed the feeling away as she grasped it with her own—blood-free, of course. As he helped pull her to her feet, he asked, "Got any other bright ideas?"

Well, she'd had one before that charming little brat had decided to swing at her. She was so caught off-guard by it that she'd lost her train of thought in the process. She had more tricks up her sleeve, though. "A few," she finally answered. "It can't be that hard to catch them."

.

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Wow, they are making me eat my words.

For over an hour they'd searched the upstairs. Again. Any room that had its door open was thoroughly inspected, even more so than earlier. When they found nothing the door was always shut securely behind them before they moved on to the next one.

"You have got to be kidding me," Dawn muttered as she checked under her mother's bed. Paul had opted out of snooping in Johanna's room, deciding to keep watch in the hall instead, and the girl didn't blame him. Earlier the blunette had only peeked in when she'd discovered Glammy, but now she was full on encroaching on questionable territory. Well, I've done it once in the recent past, it won't kill me to do it again.

It was pretty common knowledge that her mother didn't really like when people went into her room, even her own daughter. But since the moment called for it, Dawn was able to ignore the little voice in the back of her mind that told her that she was going to be in even more trouble once Johanna noticed that someone had been in her room.

Well, it was better to ask for forgiveness than permission, right?

Right?

Mumbling obscenities to herself, she stomped out of the room in frustration. These cats were driving her crazy. "We've checked literally every room in this house. Where else could they be?"

Neither of them were able to come up an idea. They were being outsmarted by Glameow kittens no older than a month. How could this even be happening?

For the time being they regrouped downstairs. Maybe some fresh air would help, especially with how frustrated the blunette was becoming at the entire situation. She'd promised her mom in the very beginning that she would take care of the kittens when they were born. Even though the two were in the middle of a spat, that didn't make her dedication to their well-being any less. It was her job to watch out for them: she fed them everyday after school; she played with them when Glammy was tired of acting as referee for their wrestling matches. She had fallen in love with them almost as hard as she had when her mother had come home with Glammy when she herself was only a newborn kitten. It brightened her otherwise then-dark days, especially since it was right after her father's accident.

There was a nice breeze as she stepped out onto the front walk. It felt heavenly. Making her way forward, she leaned heavily against the banister that lined the short set of stairs to the lawn, heaving a sigh as she stretched. Behind her, Paul leaned against the door jamb as she brushed her bangs out of her eyes. Her hair hung loosely down her back, flowing freely in the wind. It caught his eye, distracting him. At some point she'd begun to speak, but he didn't hear her as he sort of spaced out.

"Hello?"

The sudden presence snapping of fingers in front of his face startled him back to attention. Just the fact that she'd managed to catch him by surprise irritated him, and he grumpily snapped, "What?"

She rolled her eyes. "Did you even hear what I was saying?"

Crossing his arms, he hunched his shoulders. "Nope."

Blunt and to the point, she thought. Just like usual. "What I was saying was that maybe they got outside somehow. They're definitely not in the house."

Of course it was about the cats. Why did he feel so on edge? "But we didn't see any open windows."

"There's a sunroof in one of the upstairs rooms. It was cracked open when I checked it, but I didn't think anything of it," she admitted almost sheepishly. "So they may have climbed out through there."

"And you're just now letting me know," he deadpanned, staring at her.

"Yeah, well . . ." She trailed off, mouth suddenly snapping shut. Her eyes blinked a few times as a confused expression crossed her face. Then her head tipped to the side, having picked up just the faintest noise. Was that . . .?

"Okay, that's creepy."

Rolling her eyes, Dawn ignored him and turned her back to the boy. Having him in her line of vision was distracting. There was something in their vicinity that had caught her attention, and she strained her ears to listen for it again. But there was nothing now.

Clicking her tongue in agitation, she shut her eyes in an attempt to concentrate better. Maybe if she turned this way . . . With a hand on the banister to help guide her, she slowly made her way down the front steps. Keeping her feet silent against the wood, she walked onto the grass. It tickled the bottom of her bare feet, but she paid it no mind as she rounded the side of the house.

There it is again.

Padding ever so carefully around the bushes that lined the foundation of her home, she blinked her eyes open. Something had run across her foot. A chill ran down her, but she swallowed whatever fear was starting to form. It really wouldn't help for her to freak out, not when she felt so close.

A sudden, loud yowl from above caught her attention. Her head snapped up so fast she was surprised that she didn't suffer from whiplash. A springy tail flit just out of view over the roof's edge.

Muttering, "I knew it," she spun on her heel and quickly made her way back to the front. Such sneaky scoundrels, she thought hotly. Let's see them get away now. "They're on the roof!" she called as she turned the corner. Paul was quick to follow her back to where she'd seen the tail.

Pointing high above them, she told of what she'd seen and heard, to which he confirmed having heard it as well. As they debated how to get up there without wasting time, there was another loud sound above them. Looking up, they saw a gray face peeking down at them. One of the kittens was sitting along the edge of the roof, its tail swinging lazily behind it.

"I'm getting collars for all of you the next chance I get!" Dawn yelled at it in a fit of renewed frustration. It just bobbed its head in the weird way cats did, meowing down at them.

"I don't think yelling at the cat's going to do anything," Paul pointed out. He was just about as exasperated as she was with this whole situation, and he was more than ready to go home. He didn't want to waste his entire Saturday afternoon hunting mischievous baby Pokémon because of an incompetent owner.

For once she agreed with him, and so she turned to instead pace beneath the kitchen window. Not only was it a good way for her to vent any physical agitation she felt, it also helped when she needed to make quick decisions. Biting at the inside of her cheek she asked, "Do you have your Poké Balls?"

Silently he lifted the hem of his shirt, revealing three shiny capsules clipped to his belt.

"Good, good." Pausing, she glanced up. "I'm assuming one of them is Torterra?"

Apparently this was something that should have been obvious, since he just rolled his eyes at her. "I don't leave my Pokémon at someone else's house to be babysat."

"Well, excuse me. I'm sorry Reggie offered to watch them."

"Whatever. What do you have in mind?"

Huffing in indignation, she asked about the anatomy of his Torterra. Her idea revolved around whether or not it had any sort of vine-based attacks. If it did, then it could either lift one of them up there to snatch the kittens, or it could use them to capture the Glameow brats without much of a fuss. But her hopes were dashed when he denied her idea. "Torterra don't have those kinds of vines," he admonished, like it was information she should have already known.

"I grew up with a Piplup as my starter, how could I have known that?" When he raised an eyebrow at her, she held up a hand to stop him. "Don't answer that. We need to think of something new now."

They deliberated back and forth for the next few minutes. Maybe they could go ask a neighbor to borrow a ladder? No, most everybody in the neighborhood spent the day away from home; and besides, he didn't really know any of them anyway since he preferred keeping to himself. What about Reggie? He gardened more than anything, he was pretty much useless.

Dawn rolled her eyes every time he shot down her suggestions. They weren't getting anywhere, especially with how stingy he was being.

"There are kittens on my roof right now, why can't we just ask someone to—"

A sudden thud, thud, thud caused her to break off mid-sentence. Neither teenager said anything. They just stared at each other in confusion. When the sound came again, Paul turned toward the front of the house, Dawn figuring it out at about the same time as he did. Was that someone knocking on the door?

A voice carried around to their side of the house. "Daaawn! I was in the neighborhood and thought I'd drop by. Are you home?"

"Hey, that's May!" Dawn hurried in the direction of her friend, dodging around Paul. He watched as she rounded the side of the house, but suddenly stopped at the corner. Sighing, he sauntered after her. There goes my Saturday.

As he turned the corner, he scowled at what he saw. Or who, to be more precise. Not only was Dawn talking to her brunette friend, another nuisance had tagged along: that dreaded boy Drew. He was leaning beside the front door as the girls talked, looking off down the street in a blatant display of boredom.

Paul sighed. He didn't really like dealing with Drew; he was quite a pain, always poking at him during lunch when he just wanted to sleep, or being overall annoying. Guess that's what happened when you let good grades go to your head: it makes one an egotistical buffoon with no real societal merit. Though Paul guessed he wasn't really one to talk.

Shrugging off the irritation, he continued toward them. During his musings, Dawn had glanced over her shoulder at him. She gave him one of the most curious smiles he'd seen, before she turned back to the most wide-eyed look either of them had ever seen on May's face. It looked like she had a million questions for Dawn about his presence, but she bit her tongue long enough to ask what they were doing.

"Glammy's kittens managed to somehow get on the roof," Dawn explained, turning to point in the general direction of where they'd last seen them. "We don't have a safe way to get up there because somebody"—Here she shot a glare at Paul, which he pointedly ignored—"didn't want to ask the neighbors for help. Speaking of which."

Turning to Drew, Dawn asked, "Drew, you have a Roselia, right?"

With the way he leaned against the side of the house, it was obvious that he wanted to look cool. He didn't even look at them, just flicked his bangs and said, "I always carry Roselia with me," pulling its ball from his belt and twirling it on his fingertip like a basketball.

It took everything she had to keep from blurting out how much she needed his help. She didn't want to sound like she was begging, especially since she didn't even really know him very well. Would he make her owe him later? She knew a few people who were like that, but for the moment she would have to forget about that—she had more important things at stake than her pride.

Biting at the inside of her cheek, she managed to grind out, "Do you think we could use its vines to retrieve the kittens from the roof?"

"That depends." Still spinning the ball, he smirked. "What's in it for me?"

Oh, great. He's just like all the other kids—

Before Dawn could tell him just where he could go shove that capsule, May raised a hand to stop her. Stepping forward, the brunette set her hands on her hips in a confident stance. "You wanted to go on a date with me, am I right?"

Whoa. All eyes were on May at this point; Dawn and Paul stared openly while Drew's mouth hung open in shock. In an attempt to regain his composure, he snapped it shut, coughing to cover his embarrassment. Blushing furiously, he straightened and said, "Maybe. You've said no every time, so I'm surprised you'd say yes so easily for your friend. Though I guess I shouldn't be considering I knew I'd win you over with my charms sooner or later."

With a roll of her eyes the brunette returned with, "Yeah, yeah, you're sooo charming. Here's the deal," she continued, taking a step forward so they were nose to nose. She raised a hand and traced the line of his collarbone. "You help us, I help you."

The look on his face was hilarious. Beet red suited him, Dawn decided as she stepped to the side. The urge to laugh was almost enough to overpower her, but she resisted. Reaching out to steady herself, her hand unexpectedly found Paul's arm, and she grasped his sleeve. He flinched in surprise, but let her be so she wouldn't fall over with the effort to hide her laughter. She was doing a poor job of it though, so much so that she had to almost bury her face against his shoulder to contain it.

While Dawn was so tickled with laughter, Drew managed to ignore her as he scoffed to regain his own composure. Trying to seem like her words hadn't nearly floored him, he gave her a lascivious grin. "Is that so?"

May nodded. They continued in hushed tones as the two behind them watched May work her magic. She seemed to be saying just the right words to him, twirling her hair and tilting her head in a coy manner. Drew was just eating it up, his voice low but strong with confidence. Even though it looked as if he had the upper hand in their conversation, Dawn knew better—if any one of them needed someone to talk them out of a situation, May was the girl to call. It was as if her words were magic sometimes, even now as she wormed her way through the green-haired boy's shields. She knew what he wanted, and she was playing him right into her hand.

Eventually they seemed to come to an agreement. Stepping back, May grinned at her friend as she gave a thumbs up. Dawn smiled at her, returning the gesture. Right as she was about to join her and Paul by the front steps, Drew caught her by the arm and drew her back. He whispered something in her ear as he passed one of his Poke Balls into her hand, a grin across his own face as the brunette blushed furiously. "Guess I deserved that," she muttered once she finally joined Dawn.

"What'd he say?" Dawn asked softly. This was a two-in-one question if she was being honest. Curiosity burned brightly within her as she waited for her friend to dish.

Clearing her throat, she dared a glance back at the haughty boy. He winked at her and she scoffed. Twisting the ball in her hand she stated plainly, "He said he likes red."

Her words were met with silence as Dawn stared with eyes the size of saucers. Before she could say anything—laugh, giggle like a maniac, ask her if she was crazy, whatever—May wrapped an arm around her friend's shoulders and started for the steps. "Come on, let's get this over with before I change my mind." Dawn allowed her to nearly drag her to the grass, giving a double thumbs up to the boys.

It was go time.

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.

.

"That was hands down the worst twenty minutes of my life."

Grunting loudly as she dropped heavily onto the couch, Dawn was tempted to smother her friend with a pillow, but decided against it as May deflated against the cushions. The blunette instead settled for a simple eye roll. She knew May wasn't wrong.

Once they'd decided on a plan they'd quickly set into action. They went over the pros and cons of any scenario they could come up with, ultimately deciding to let Roselia lift itself with its vines to catch the kittens. It was safer than one of them going up there, and if it fell one of them could easily catch it below. With the slope of the roof it wasn't difficult to keep all of them in their sights, but they'd underestimated just how much trouble the kittens were about to give them. Once they'd managed to wrangle them altogether, Dawn had shut them in her room with Glammy, making sure there was food and water near the door before nearly slamming it behind her.

"You can say that again."

The mutter came from behind her, and Dawn turned to see that the boys had collapsed against the kitchen bar and a table chair, respectively. Drew was fanning his face as he leaned an elbow against the counter top, and Paul had straddled a chair, his arms crossed over the top of the back. He had his forehead resting against his arms, and it looked like he could use some water—his hair, like the rest of them, was damp with sweat. Even with how cool it was in the early autumn weather, it wasn't too difficult for them to exhaust themselves in their rescue efforts.

Inhaling a breath to steady her adrenaline fueled heart, Dawn busied herself in getting them all some refreshments. It didn't hurt to stay hydrated, she mused as she pulled glasses from the cabinets. Filling them all with water, she made her rounds with them, starting with the boys and ending with May. Standing above her friend, she sipped at her drink as the brunette quickly chugged hers. When she held the glass out for a refill, she laughed and opted to hand over her own instead.

As she made her way back to the kitchen, she used this opportunity to check on the boys. They were fine, just tired. Drew grumbled about how he wished the A/C was on, and Paul just sat there with his head down. When Dawn leaned over to try to get a look at him, he just blinked at her from behind his bangs. Grinning, she held out a hair elastic she dug from out of her pocket. He rolled his eyes; she laughed, ruffled his hair, and walked off.

For the next hour or so they sat around downstairs, the girls lounging together on the couch while the boys stayed by the table. With such a weirdly large distance between them, Dawn debated whether or not they should just go upstairs to her room. It was what she usually did when she had friends over since her mom normally hung out downstairs doing chores or watching TV. Then she realized how weird an offer like that could sound, so she dropped the idea altogether. With Saturday being one of the few days of the week her mom worked all day, she knew they could sit around without any complications.

The house was quiet besides the sparse conversations they had. The only real talker in the room was May, sprawled out across the cushions with her feet in Dawn's lap. Apparently she was comfortable enough that it made it difficult for her to carry on with what she was saying, and after a while she started nodding off. Dawn assumed it was because the testing period for the juniors was starting soon, so maybe she was hitting the books too hard lately. Giving her the benefit of the doubt, the blunette grabbed the afghan from across the back of the couch and, unfolding it to its entirety, laid it across her friend. She didn't move as Dawn slid out from beneath her feet and stood. Then she turned around.

"All right, out with it."

Both boys looked up at her with equal expressions of confusion. They glanced at each other briefly, then back at her. "Sorry?" Drew said.

Making her way quickly toward the dining area, she dropped into an empty chair and leveled a heavy stare at him. "I've heard that you're an admirer of my friend, and earlier more or less proved it. I don't know you well enough yet to take this all at face value, so I'll be blunt: What are the chances she just so happened to be with you in my neighborhood?"

He blinked at her. Paul coughed to hide his laughter, but neither paid him any mind. They were too concentrated on each other, especially since Dawn was borderline glaring at Drew. She held no real malice for the boy, but she had to know if he was being serious or just trying to get into her friend's pants for the hell of it. She might have been known as the nice one of their group—okay, she was more quiet than nice, but still—she was also fiercely protective of her friends.

The tense silence seemed to be too much for him. Crossing his arms, he averted his eyes, muttering, "Coincidences happen, okay."

Dawn's gaze intensified. So he's going to play this game, is he. Leaning back in her chair she said, "Fine, you don't have to tell me. That's your business. But," she continued, pointing at him when he breathed a sigh of relief, "I'd better not find out that you're just using her. She's a good girl and deserves the best."

Trailing off, she stared at the table so hard the boys wondered if she was going to burn a hole onto its sleek surface. Her jaw was tight as her teeth clenched in visible agitation, but relaxed when she sighed. It was obvious that something was weighing on her mind, but she didn't acknowledge it verbally. It wasn't exactly any of their business what happened in May's life, but dammit if she wasn't going to at least try be a good friend.

"Just . . . Don't string her along. When she falls, she can fall hard. I don't want her to break her own heart over a jerk that was just pulling her strings like a puppet." She'd seen May form many crushes over the years that she'd known her, and almost every time they'd ended up in heartache. The most recent one she could think of was the brief connection she'd seemed to form with Ash before it'd been quickly broken unknowingly by the older boy. Was she already over it? Or did she have an ache where those feelings were? Oh Arceus, this was nothing to get so upset over.

Across the table, Drew shuffled uncomfortably. He didn't really know what she was talking about, but at the same time knew that didn't matter. Honestly, he was more worried about her throwing something at him if he said the wrong thing. So he went with the best he could think of.

"I can't really promise that she won't get hurt," he started, coming to a halting stop when her eyes pierced his own. Please don't kill me, he groaned internally. "But, that's only because it happens even to the best of people. It's just how life is, no matter what you try to make of it. Life is filled with pain; you get used to it, and use it as a means of maturing. Or at least that's what my mother says, since I'm not really the sappy kind of guy," he finished lamely as he flicked his hair in his pompous way, a stupid smirk on his face.

"Wow, I should have known you couldn't be that philosophical," Dawn dead-panned as Paul just stared at him in disbelief. He was too full of himself to be that sensitive, and they both knew that. Well, it didn't hurt to try and trust him.

Maybe.

Hopefully.

Arceus, she really hoped she wouldn't live to regret putting any faith in him.

"Thanks again for your help." Dawn held the door open for May and Drew as they filed outside.

"Any time," the brunette replied. She turned to give Dawn a hug of farewell as Drew continued down the front walk. He paused halfway down the path, glancing awkwardly behind him as the girls embraced.

With one arm still encircling her friend, Dawn pointed two fingers at him, then at her eyes in an "I'm watching you" motion. The boy just grimaced and hunched his shoulders as he turned away. He had nothing to be scared of, he told himself, huffing indignantly. Wait, was she just threatening me? he realized belatedly.

Finally exchanging their goodbyes, May waved as she backed down the walk. Spotting Paul standing behind Dawn, she grinned, blowing a kiss in his general direction. Dawn blinked in confusion, then turned to see a very uncomfortable Paul turning away from the door. The look on his face was enough to make the brunette laugh as she tugged Drew behind her toward the road. She seemed better now that she'd had some rest, and Dawn watched them walk away together down the sidewalk.

Closing the door behind her, Dawn chuckled as she passed her disgruntled companion. "What was that about?"

In what seemed to be an effort to ignore her, he'd shoved his hands into his pockets and leaned against the wall next to the stairs.

"Did you two somehow have some sort of exchange while I wasn't looking?" She continued to prod him as she fell back onto the couch.

Silence greeted her. Rolling her eyes, she chucked a decorative pillow at him, which he dodged easily. It narrowly missed the TV screen, making Dawn cringe when it smacked the wall behind it.

"Oh come on, tell me!" Relentlessly she badgered him, throwing more pillows until there were none left on the couch. He smirked when he noticed she was out of ammo. There was a certain glimmer in his eye that caught her off-guard. Uh-oh, he's back, she thought. She was referring to the newly discovered playful side of Paul, and if she knew his regular personality well enough, she was in for some torment.

As if to prove her theory, he'd picked up all the pillows she'd thrown at him—five to be precise—and was beginning to make his way ever so slowly toward her. It was like watching a predator stalking his prey, and it sent a tingle up her spine.

"N-now Paul," she stammered, almost crawling over the back of the couch in an attempt to escape. But there was none since she was backed against a wall. "Be reasonable–!"

Without warning, pillows rained down on her. She squealed in mock-fear, batting them away as best she could. It only lasted for a moment, and once the onslaught was over, she dared a peek under her raised arms. She'd thought he'd run out of pillows, but he'd fooled her: one was still gripped in his hands, posed as if to smother her.

Trapped against the couch, she glanced around for any exit she could find—down, around?—but her effort was in vain: before she could form a strategy, there was a bop to her crown. It wasn't very hard, yet the soft impact still made her flinch. When he took a step back, she blinked up at him in confusion.

"Arceus, you're such an idiot," he chuckled, waving the pillow around. "Did you really think I'd hit you?"

"Wouldn't be the first time," she muttered. With a push of her foot she forced him away. He was still too close for her to really think well, and she needed her space after something like that.

His voice teasing, he said, "What was that?" as he grabbed her by the ankle and trapped her leg. His grip wasn't tight, but it kept her immobile.

If this is him in a good mood, I'd hate to see him in a bad one. Every move he was making was methodical, calculated enough to catch her off-guard each and every time he did something, said anything. It felt like he was planning ahead to thwart any effort she could even think to try and get away.

And it was very annoying.

Sighing, she leaned back against the couch. At least she'd chosen to wear pants that day, or else this could have been so much more awkward. "Nothing. Now let go of my foot."

Huffing in amusement, he did as she said. A ghost of a smile was almost visible on his face as he stepped back, full on smirking when she lashed out at him. Her leg was fast, but he was faster. Slipping to the side, he twisted so he would fall beside her on the couch.

"You know, that's getting old really fast," he said, kicking his own feet onto the coffee table.

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well. If you were nice to me more often I wouldn't have to retaliate." Bumping his shoulder with hers, she grinned. "You really should learn how to treat a girl."

All he did was snort in derision as he settled in his seat. She laughed as she leaned against him, her cheek resting by his collarbone. With how close her ear was to his chest, she could almost imagine how fast his heart was beating. There was a soft thrumming against her skin, and she smiled at the sensation.

Soon they both grew quiet. All the tension they'd felt for most of the day was slowly ebbing away as they relaxed against each other. It was almost like they were enjoying each other's company, until he reached over with a hand to lazily pinch her arm. She laughed through her nose at how much it didn't hurt, muttering for him to stop as she entangled his fingers with her own to keep them stationary. He didn't complain, just rested his cheek in her hair and shut his eyes. She did the same, smiling to herself as she began to doze, and soon they were both down for the count.

They deserved some rest.

Especially with their days to come.

A/N: Ooooh, ookie spookie foreshadowing! Or just another vague video game reference that I'm pretty sure no one really paid attention to.

Who even knows at this point?