… … … … … Okay. I hate myself alright? I promised an actual Christmas one-shot AND a new years and I haven't. Don't worry; I swear there will be a story up for Valentine's Day. I've started it already. In fact, there will probably be two. But I'm not promising that. Well, this is inspired by… half of the stories on this fandom because I've been reading not writing. Sorry. Well, read and review! :)

.:.

She blinked, her eyes taking on the 'stantler-in-headlights' look. Her sapphire eyes watered with tears that soon spilled over onto her cheeks as she watched the green-haired coordinator twist away from her and through the crowd, until all she could see of him was the occasional flash of chartreuse locks.

'May! Oh my Arceus, are you alright?'

May sniffed loudly, bringing her hand up to wipe the tears of her face. Ash watched her, concern evident on his face. She took a few deep breaths, eyes closed. Then she nodded, forcing a smile. Ash's eyebrows furrowed but he argued no further, instead grabbing the seventeen-year old brunette's arm and dragging her out of the crowd. Dawn was waiting for her, twitching with excitement.

'May! You wer- what's wrong?' she chirped, before her voice turned serious, engulfing her best friend in a hug. May smiled weakly.

'Nothing,' she replied meekly, blinking back any more tears that threatened her cheeks. 'I'm fine. Don't worry, okay guys? I just need a bit of time alone. I'm gonna go train my pokémon for the next contest. I won't be beaten by...' The brunette didn't even bother trying to say his name, for she knew she'd choke up and start crying again.

Dawn watched her, exchanging a worried glance with the raven-haired trainer beside her. 'Okay… but if you aren't back before five I'm sending a search party. No joke. I will send a massive search party.'

May smiled slightly, this one more real than the others had been. She had a feeling the bluenette knew what was wrong, or at least had a hunch, but she refrained from asking anyway, instead nodding and walking into the forest, hoping her gait didn't look nearly as wobbly as her eyes felt, or that her body was shaking as much as her lower lip was.

She stumbled through the dense gathering of trees without a real care of where she was going, stopping at the first clearing she came across. Her fingers shaking, she fumbled with a pokéball on her belt, releasing her blaziken and soon after her glaceon.

The two looked anxiously at her, Glaceon rubbing up against her trainer's leg soothingly. May looked down at them, a pained smile appearing on her tearstained face. She bit her lip, sinking to the ground with her back to an old oak tree. Uncontrollable sobs racked her body as she buried her face in her arms. Blaziken stood over her protectively, whilst Glaceon curled up beside her, nuzzling her thigh comfortingly.

She'd tried to tell him. Tried to tell him that she liked him a lot more than she should, all said in her little 'ten seconds of confidence' time zone. And he'd walked away, a frown plastered on his face. Just like that. And her heart had dropped to her feet, making an imaginary smash as it hit the floor.

May's sobs grew louder, memories of possibly the worst event in her life flooding back to her.

'And the winner of the Goldenrod City contest is… Drew Hayden from LaRousse City!' Marian cried, and the crowd erupted into cheers. May smiled sadly from her place on the other side of the field as Drew threw her his classic smirk, green eyes boring into hers for a brief few seconds. Her heart rate accelerated.

As much as she'd like to say that she didn't like the green haired man standing across from her, she knew that she had to quit lying to herself. Whenever he turned his emerald gaze to hers her heart picked up, her breathing ragged, her stomach in knots. It was impossible not to understand what was going on. The urge to run her hands through his impeccably kept locks, to press her own lips onto his, to tighten her hold on him whenever she hugged him and never let him go. As cheesy as it sounded, she had a good guess what the bubbling feeling inside of her was whenever she looked at him was.

He took the ribbon, nodding his head to the crowd and sweeping his bangs out of his face with a quick fluid movement of two of his fingers. May averted her gaze instead to her pokémon.

'Blastoise, you were amazing! I'm so proud of you… you deserve a long rest,' she murmured, wrapping her arms around the massive turtle pokémon.

'Blast…' the water pokémon grunted in response. May smiled, patting him on the head one more time before returning him to his red and white pokéball. She sauntered off-stage, thanking those who congratulated her for a great battle.

It was five minutes later when he met up with her, in the middle of the crowd leaving the contest hall. His mouth twitched up in a smirk as he stood in front of her, flourishing a rose under her nose.

'You were good, May. But, as always, I was better…' he told her allowing her to take the rose out of his hands. She couldn't help the pleasant tingle that raced up her arm as she brushed her hand against his.

'Admit it, Drew, that was a close match,' she retorted, although she could hear her heart pounding against her chest. Drew rolled his eyes.

'That is something that I will never have to admit. I was going easy on you and I still won,' he replied evenly, arrogance laced throughout his voice. May's eyes narrowed and she scoffed.

'Right. So the beads of sweat all over your face and your stance didn't tell me that you were nervous,' she muttered sarcastically. Although, she wouldn't put on the end of her sentence that she found the glistening drops kind of attractive.

'It was a stuffy room. I got hot.'

'Oh, right.'

His eyes rolled again, and he turned around. 'Well, I'll see you in the next city, May.'

She didn't know what happened next. She hadn't meant for it to happen, it just did.

'Wait, Drew!' she called, only a few moments after his first step. He turned around, an inquisitive look on his face as she struggled to regain the breath that had whooshed out of her at the thought that entered her head.

'Yes?' he queried, a slightly impatient look gracing his features. She took a deep breath, calming herself. 'May, I'm waiting. I want to get going, you know.'

'Sorry!' she squeaked, and her face turned into one of disgust, mortified at the sound of her voice. She took another deep breath, before walking up to her all-time rival.

Ten seconds of confidence. Just ten seconds... I can do this. It's now or never, she thought, panic flooding her at the look of Drew's furrowed eyebrows.

'What, May?' he grumbled, looking down at the brunette in front of him. After one last deep breath she opened her mouth to answer.

'I think I'm in love with you.'

Her words came out jumbled and said closely together, but Drew got the message anyway. The brunette's breathing was heavy as she waited for a response of any kind, but the only thing that happened was the clenching of the emerald-eyed coordinator. He turned around, frowning, and walked away without a word, weaving away from her through the crowds.

May stared, swearing she felt her heart drop out of her torso and onto the ground, smashing into pieces. Her sapphire eyes watered immediately, and she brought her hand to her chest, hoping to stop the aching that had now begun deep under the skin. A sob broke from her lips as she dropped the rose to the ground, stamping down on it, and she gained a few odd looks from the people around her, but they all continued walking, leaving her to her misery.

And that had been when Ash had found her. She brought her head up out of her arms and glanced quickly at Blaziken, whose wrists were flaring. Glaceon let out a light growl at the bushes on the other side of the clearing. The leaves rustled again, and May hastily wiped her eyes, sniffling slightly and trying to regain her composure without success. A roselia stepped out of the bushes, clutching a rose in her flowery hands.

'Is this from Drew?' she asked, not trying to mask the pain in her voice from the bouquet pokémon. Roselia shook her head.

'Ro, rosel, roselia, ro,' she explained. May nodded.

'You're apologising for him?' she asked. The pokémon nodded in confirmation, placing the rose in May's hands.

'Does he know you're here?'

Roselia shook her head. May bit her lip, praying that she wouldn't break down in tears again. The green pokémon in front of her gave her a sympathetic look, wrapping her roses around the brunette's quivering figure before disappearing back into the trees.

~Two Years Later~

May grinned down at her newly caught charmander. He chirped back up at her, his flame-tipped tail wagging with excitement.

'You and I are going to be the best of friends, you know that?' she squealed, hugging the creature. It bobbed its orange head happily. 'C'mon out guys and meet your new friend!' she called, throwing her other five pokéballs into the air. Delcatty, Glaceon, Blaziken, Blastoise and Beautifly appeared in front of her, curious to see the new addition to their team. May knew that she already had a fire-type, and she would never give up her Blaziken, but she figured one day it would be nice to have a flying type that she could actually fly on.

The five other pokémon crowded around Charmander, sniffing him and speaking to him in their own language. She smiled briefly before her thought, as they usually did whenever she wasn't busy, wandered back to the green-haired man who had left her standing alone in the crowd.

He had avoided her from then on, never appearing in the same town or contest as her, and if he did enter the contest, she backed out, not even wanting to be in the same room as him. At the Grand Festival, however, it was inevitable, but the two did their best not to interact with each other, although not speaking with him didn't help the ache in her heart. It only made it worse.

And so she stuck to not saying or even thinking his name, for a pang resounded throughout her torso whenever she did either. And so she would use pronouns for his title.

May pouted remembering the past two years as clearly as she would have if it all happened yesterday. After a humiliating loss to Harley in the Johto Grand Festival, she'd gotten a call from her father, saying he had a board meeting in Kanto for all gym leaders, and as she was the eldest, she had to care for the gym whilst he was away.

Then she stayed. For two whole years, deciding to take a break off coordinating and dodging unnameable rivals.

She shook her head, ridding herself of the thoughts before she became upset once more. She grinned as Charmander sauntered over to her.

'I have the best friends in the whole world!' she squealed happily, engulfing the six creatures in a massive hug. The chittered enthusiastically along with her, and she pulled back with a massive beam gracing her features.

'Glace! Glaceon!' the ice-type agreed. May giggled, hugging the fresh snow pokémon separately.

'Alright. Charmander, let's see what you've got!' she cried, standing up and gesturing for her pokémon to do the same. 'Now, who wants to have a mini battle against Charmander?'

'I will.'

May's blood ran cold, her heart beginning to pound frantically. She didn't turn from the spot she was standing in – the brunette well knew who it was that was talking. She'd recognise the voice anywhere – but her shoulders visibly stiffened, causing the green-haired man behind her to flinch.

She attempted to ignore him, calling upon Beautifly to stand across the field from the young fire-type pokémon. The butterfly pokémon shook her head before flapping gracefully to the spot opposite.

'Alright, Beautifly, I want you to give it all you've got. Charmander, you give it your all as well. I know you can do this.'

'Char!'

'Beaut-beautifly!'

'Okay, Beautifly, use gust!' May called, pointing her finger to where Charmander was standing. Beautifly obeyed, fluttering her wings prettily as she created the blast of wind. 'Now, stun spore!'

A flurry of yellow dust followed, swirling in with the gust. Charmander waited, before as it was right in front of him he let out a powerful flamethrower, splitting the gust and hitting the unsuspecting butterfly head on. Beautifly flew backwards with a cry, landing on the ground in front of May with a light thud. She fluttered clumsily to the air, shaking her head.

'Shake it off, Beautifly, you've got this! Spin using silver wind, and then use tackle!'

Beautifly obliged, beginning her silver vortex quickly and easily, bending the tornado towards Charmander and spiralling into the fire pokémon. Charmander yelped, flying backwards and hitting a tree. He stood up groggily, shaking his head and jumping back into a battle stance.

He let out a bit of a roar before he ran at Beautifly, breathing a long stream of fire as he went. His claws gained a faint silver glow as he sped on.

'Beautifly, fly up to dodge!' May called, inwardly smiling with pride as her pokémon executed the aerobatics perfectly, spiralling out of the reach of the flaming pillar. 'Now, use silver wind!'

Beautifly spread her wings out over the head of Charmander as he looked around quickly, wondering where his opponent was. She flapped her wings briskly, sending a surge of silver towards the pokémon beneath her. He cried out in shock, letting loose one more stream of fire up at her before he was pelted into the ground. He lay there for another few minutes, panting heavily. Beautifly's wings were slightly scorched, but she landed happily on her trainer's head, chirping enthusiastically.

'You guys were both so great!' May cried, having forgotten that there was an unwanted visitor standing behind her in the cover of trees. Charmander chattered weakly back to her, sitting up tiredly. 'Thanks for a great battle. I'll let you have a rest, and then I'll take you to a pokémon centre, okay?'

He nodded. May smiled, returning him into his new pokéball along with the other five of her remaining party, who'd stayed out to watch. Just as she'd finished pocketing the six enclosed pokémon, a hand touched her shoulder from behind.

The brunette jumped what seemed to be a mile forward, turning around with her hand on her shoulder as if she'd been burnt. Her eyes narrowed into slits as she felt several emotions bubble up inside of her. The red-hot anger she felt towards the man now staring at her was on top, burning all rational motives out of her mind.

'What do you want, Drew?' she spat out the question, her anger seeping into every part of her voice. He visibly winced, taking a step toward the nineteen year old.

'May, I… I'm… sorry…' he muttered, emerald orbs revealing the sincerity that his words spoke. She scowled.

'Yeah, well, maybe it's too late for that.'

'May, I'm not giving up on this. Not giving up on you. I was stupid; I made a mistake, okay? But as I was watching you battle, I… I need you May, alright? And I'll do anything to get you to take me. Anything.'

'Drew, you had a chance. You blew it, alright? For all you know, I have a boyfriend anyway,' she muttered stubbornly, attempting to push past him to get to the trees that marked the path out of the forest.

Drew's eyes narrowed, grabbing her wrist and spinning her around to face him, emerald orbs boring into her sapphire ones. 'Be serious, May. You don't have a boyfriend.'

Her scowl deepened, and she struggled to jerk her wrist free of his grip, resorting to pounding his wrist with her fist as her vision blurred. 'Yeah, well what would you know about me anyway? You've been avoiding me for two years, Hayden! And now you come and talk to me, and expect me to welcome you with open arms!' she shouted, voice becoming hysterical. 'I waited, and your time is long gone. I'm leaving!'

The pained look on the chartreuse-haired coordinator's face was enough to tell anybody that he was sorry for what he did, but the brunette wasn't even looking at him, yanking her wrist repetitively in an attempt to free it from his seemingly iron grip. His speech quietened. 'I'm sorry, May. I didn't know what to make of it – it took me by surprise, and I reacted in the worst way possible. I'm sorry.'

'Well you got your message across just fine,' she hissed angrily, fighting back the sob she felt coming up the back of her throat. Drew only tightened his hold on her wrist, pulling her into him and wrapping his arms around her tightly.

'I don't think I did, May. Now if you want me to leave, then I'll go, just let me hold you for one last minute…' he whispered in her hair, locking his arms around her torso. May whimpered, her tears finally over flowing as she beat on his chest. Her face rested in the crook of his neck, the collar of his shirt quickly becoming soaked.

Drew reluctantly released her, gritting his teeth together as she extracted herself from his grip quickly.

'I… I'll see you around,' he muttered finally, turning on his heel and striding through the gap in the trees. As soon as he was out of sight, May broke down in tears, the sobs ripping from her throat and into the still air, the tears still streaming down her face in thin, warm rivers.

'Drew…' she whispered, feeling again the aching feeling in her heart. 'What did I just do…?'

She stood abruptly, sprinting out the cover of trees. Her heart pounded frightfully fast as she whipped her head from side to side, searching everywhere for the slightest hint of chartreuse locks. After a few moments she noticed him turning down a side street, and she took off, moving her legs as fast as she dared, knowing that if she fell over she'd lose sight of him.

'Drew!' she cried out, catching glances from surrounding people. He stopped for a brief second, but shook his head, continuing. He was so far ahead of her, a dot in her vision. 'Drew! Drew, wait!'

He stopped again, turning his head in her direction, eyebrows raised. She ran the rest of the distance, launching into his arms and gripping him tightly, sobbing freely.

'I'm sorry! I'm sorry… I… Drew, I missed you so much! I wanted to talk to you, but I was ashamed, and I knew you didn't want to talk to me…' she whimpered, burying her face in his chest. He balanced on his heels, wrapping his arms around her quivering frame.

'May…' his sentence trailed off softly, his hands rubbing circles on her back soothingly.

'Don't leave, please. I need you, Drew. You have to stay!'

She pulled back from him, although his shirt remained bunched in her fists. He scrutinised her for a second before a slight smile broke out on his face.

'I won't.'

.:.

Okay. That was utterly awful compared to some of my other works. Dramatic, cliché, super-fast mood changes, et cetera... Whatever. I needed to get back into my writing style. I've been reading a book lately that contrasts greatly to the way I write, and that flair has been merging with mine, and making a jumbled mess, ya know? Eh. Tell me what you think! And again, I'm sosososososososososooo sorry for not giving the other two stories I promised. But I will put out a Valentine's Day one. I hope. I have one planned. :P

Charmander was kind of more of a filler, just so you know. And I wanted her to have a Charmander. Because they're cool.

By the way, I'm not sure if I should either FINALLY write a story in Drew's perspective, or write and additional chapter to this story in Drew's perspective. I'm not sure =/ I haven't really written much in his view before, and I wanna give it a shot. Oh well.

Review, my pretties :D

~Eevee~~