May stretched her legs out in front of her and leaned against the back of the bench. The sun was just beginning to set and she still had half an hour before her ship to Hoenn left the harbour. All she wanted to do now was relax. I can't remember the last time I had even second of peace and quiet from the reporters and fans.

After she competed in the Johto Grand Festival with Drew, Solidad and Harley, she travelled to Sinnoh alone, then to Unova and many other regions besides. At the age of seventeen, she was rising fast in the world of coordinators and had just finished competing in the Kanto Grand Festival again. While she hadn't won, she ended up as runner-up to Drew after a close and dramatic match. And now, May was about to join her parents in Hoenn for a long break from coordinating. She wished Max could be there, but he was four years into his own journey as a trainer and had no inclination to take a break just yet.

"I thought I'd find you here."

May smiled and stood up. She had been expecting a meeting with him before she left. "Hello, Drew."

He smirked. "I guess this is payback for when you won the Unova Cup, huh? " Drew flipped his hair aside, a move that he hadn't stopped doing even after seven years. "I wish I could say that it was luck that got you so far, but I have to admit that you're finally catching up."

"Thanks." She wasn't fazed by his sarcasm anymore. Travelling alone for so long had really given her time to grow up.

"Here, I thought you'd like a little consolation." Drew handed her rose, which May accepted with a small smile. She fingered the soft petals and asked, "Let me guess. It's for Beautifly, right?" She didn't miss the way Drew's eyes narrowed momentarily.

"For Glaceon, actually, since Beautifly isn't even with you." May noticed that he sounded annoyed, but didn't react. Once upon a time, she would have lost her temper and gotten flustered, but so much less bothered her now. And of course, she didn't want to be giving Drew the satisfaction of always upsetting her.

"What a shame. Beautifly really likes those roses, you know. I guess she's just going to have to accept that her time in the spotlight is over."

Drew was really frustrated now. He'd been caught off-guard when May didn't react the way he had expected. If she had yelled, Drew would have patronizingly told her that she still had a long way to go. If she had expressed confusion as to why he kept giving her roses, he would have calmly told her and then watched her reaction with amusement. Both scenarios would have ended with Drew smoothly saying the words he had practiced for so long. But this was totally new. She may have grown up travelling alone, but I can't believe she still thinks that the flowers are for Beautifly!

His annoyance at May's behaviour and his own plan being foiled spilled out. "May, it's been seven years! Do you honestly still - ?"

May looked him straight in his green eyes and Drew stopped dead, startled. "Before you finish that sentence, do you really think I'm that dense?" When he didn't reply, she continued. "Look, Drew, I understand that you'll always have seniority over me. You're older and you started before I have. You've been in more contests and Grand Festivals than I have. And I get that I wasn't the smartest person around back in Hoenn or even Johto. Even then, though, I still had to be smart enough to get by."

May sighed and looked at the clock by the bench. Only a minute left, and this meeting had gone terribly wrong. "All I'm asking is that you understand is that I'm grown up a lot since Unova, more than you would realize from emails and video calls. But believe me; I know I've still got to work on it."

At that moment, the whistle blew. The captain was calling for boarding, and already the many passengers were lining up. May backed away from Drew, still holding the rose. She had to organize her luggage.

Drew still didn't believe what was going on until May re-adjusted her yellow fanny pack and turned to go. "May, wait –"

She faced him again, now halfway between him and the docking area. "I know what you want to say, Drew, but I don't think it'll be possible for a little while."

He took a step toward her, stretched out his arm. "But, May, I..."

She smiled gently. "I'll see you around, Drew. Take care." And she walked away.

Drew stared after her. He could still see that old red bandanna of hers, bobbing amidst the hoard of passengers. The gangplank was still down! She hadn't boarded yet! There was no way the ship would sail if one of its passengers wasn't on board. Drew sprinted through the crowd, shoving aside anyone who was in his way. He put a hand on her shoulder, turned her around, and before she could say anything, he pressed his lips against hers. Her arms around his neck, his arms around her waist...when they broke apart, she apologized and they confessed –

A loud whistle blasted through Drew's ears. He was still standing stupidly by the bench, his hand reached out. Passersby looked at him strangely. He sighed and sprawled back on the bench. The sound of the ship's motor churning the waters receded until he could hear nothing at all. "Well," Drew muttered to himself, "that's that." He put his hands down beside him to push himself up, but yanked his right hand away immediately.

The rose he had just given May was there, some of its crinkled petals falling off. He picked them up, feeling more crushed than the flower. She loves me, she loves me not...Why had she refused him? Drew would have expected her to reject the flowers when they had first met, not seven years later. I thought she liked me too.

He was almost more bewildered than hurt. She had known that he liked her, even before Solidad had said anything. Had she been stringing him along all this time? Drew dismissed the thought immediately. May wasn't that cruel. And yet...

The sun had set and the night breeze rippled through the harbour. As Drew stood up, the wind fluttered a small white piece of paper off the bench. Instinctively, Drew seized it. It looked as though it had been torn off the corner of an old sheet of paper, but the writing was in ink and fresh. There were just three words.

Drew grinned. Clutching the note and rose, he headed toward the Pokémon centre. She was right. This last meeting had proven that a relationship between the two of them would be disastrous now. At least now, he knew where they stood.

It's for Roserade.

A/N

I. Love. ContestShipping!

I've been wanting to write a ContestShipping fic for a while, and this scene literally played out in my head before I wrote it. Since we don't see Drew's point of view, I have no idea how accurate I'm being, but I'm okay with that. Originally, I wanted to write a more romance-y story, so I was thinking of having an epilogue where Drew goes to Petalburg City to ask out May...but it got so complicated that I decided to modify the ending. This way, they get to grow up some more.

-S.H.

As a side note...when how many people think of "I love you" when they see "three words"?