By the time Drew arrived in the Pokémon Centre, May had already been waiting for him as her vitals have been deemed in a good enough condition for her to be discharged. Brendan, who was accompanying her while Drew was competing in the contest, had been instructed to keep her warm as the reason she collapsed was that she caught a cold─and the air conditioner in the waiting room of the PokeCentre might be more than what she could handle then. Being told to do so, Brendan did what he could; he gave her his jacket. Originally May wanted to bring out Combusken to warm her up with a little fire, but then they both thought it would disturb the whole temperature of the hospital, so the idea was scrapped.

Surely enough, Drew noticed May was wearing Brendan's jacket when he got to the hospital. Why was she wearing his jacket? Did he make a pass at her while Drew's gone? Unsettling thoughts meddled Drew's mind as he approached them.

"Hey, Drew." May greeted, a mixture of cheeriness and sympathy in her expression, "I'm sorry you didn't win. It was a great battle to watch, though!"

"Soledad deserved the win." Drew replied, his expression unchanging.

Seeing Drew's glum expression, May nervously reached in the back of her pocket and handed out a paper heart.

"Here, I made this for you." She said coyly, a blush decorating her cheeks. "I thought this could probably make you feel better."

The gesture did surprise Drew a little, but he gave a little smile and accepted her gift. She was as unpredictable as ever, huh? Drew smiled, partly to himself.

"Thanks," he thanked her anyway for her effort and kind consideration towards him.

May pursed her lips at his little smile, her blush not going away anytime soon. Who knew he'd accept the heart so easily and, quite happily, too? The striking smile he gave before he thanked her made her cheeks burning hot. Inside, she argued with herself for being like a school girl in love, getting flustered by just a little smile. It was just a smile, but why did it look so...charming? And more importantly, why did it make her feel so good?

"Well, since Drew's here, we can now leave for dinner, right? You haven't eaten anything since the soup, May." Brendan unknowingly interrupted the little moment. Drew quietly glanced at him before shrugging and walking ahead to a cafeteria near the Pokémon Centre. May followed suit, with Brendan trailing her at her side.

Albeit everything, the uneasiness within Drew hadn't gone yet. He stared at the paper heart she gave him with a frown. She must've thought he was upset because his loss. Truthfully, he was more upset about her wearing something that's owned by Brendan. She really didn't get it, did she? Simply giving her a paper heart wouldn't erase the troubling feeling he's having. He needed a confirmation, a clear affirmation that he was the one she'd choose over Brendan. He needed to know that she's never going to fall in love with Brendan, or anyone else other than himself.

Before this, he would suppress all his feelings towards her deep inside the deepest of his mind. He made sure to not reveal anything substantial about what he felt. He dropped only hints, insinuations, telltale signs; he was careful not to let her know he cared about her more than how he should, and he made sure no one close to her knows, either.

He wanted everything to be perfect; he wanted her to slowly fall in love with him. He wanted her to slowly realize he was the right one all along. He believed in "the harder it is to get something, the more worthy it is, and the longer it will stay", so, he waited for a perfect time to express all the emotions he had been feeling. And the right time, as he'd tried to predict, was after the Johto Grand Festival. By then, he hoped she would have realized her deep-rooted feelings for him and when he lets loose of his inherent emotions, she would straight away accept him as a part of her life: her boyfriend. He guessed the news of their feigned 'relationship' ─which he purposely caused for the success of this whole arrangement─ would have died down in time, so she would become his real girlfriend without causing a boom in the media. And because the news would have been long gone from the media, they wouldn't have much cases of privacy invasion by reporters. He had it all planned so strategically.

... However, not everything went on accordingly. Not only did he let out his feelings before his intended time, there came her childhood friend, who turned out to be attracted to her. And what's more, May admitted of having feelings for Brendan before for Drew. Being unpredictable was something, but this was something else. He didn't like this kind of unpredictability.

He knew deep down he wanted to curb her from Brendan or any other guys who could potentially fancy her. Deep down he wished he could spit out all his uneasiness to her, tell her how he didn't like her to accept such personal gesture from Brendan like wearing his jacket.

But he didn't because he had promised her to let her have space to breath.

Why, though? Why must she make him promise of such thing? To let her distance herself from him, and to not get jealous of anyone getting near to her, why did he agree to it? He knew he wouldn't be able to keep it, especially since May emphasized they were only 'friends'. It didn't assure him one bit. If any, it only vexed him more.

It felt like everything was testing him. His tolerance and self-restraint were running thin.

Now that he considered all these things, he thought that if he had followed his plan back then and gone slowly, he might have lost her to Brendan.

"It's time like this that I really hate." Brendan griped despondently. "It's like three years ago all over again."

May chuckled slightly, remembering a small recollection of Brendan stood weeping privately when May disclosed that she was going to travel with Max and her new friends. He was not a tough cookie; in fact, he was quite the emotional one when he was younger. Having spent all his childhood with May (before Max was born) he had somewhat acquired her delicate personality. They often cried together and played a lot of feminine stuff that would make the present him cringe if someone ever talked about it.

Despite that, May accepted him for who he was. She didn't care whether he was masculine enough as a guy. She approached him when the other kindergarteners avoided Brendan because they labeled him sissy. She thought it was pretty cute when his mother painted his nails. These were what made Brendan appreciate her more than anyone. Even when Max was born, never once did she abandon him; she would frequently bring him to Brendan's house so they could play family together.

People say you won't appreciate what you have until you lose it, and this was what Brendan thought when May said she's going to leave home to travel the world. He had become so accustomed to her being with him that it didn't feel right when she wasn't. They were ten at that time, and Brendan, as naïve as he was, told himself he's going to bring May to travel the world with him one day. However, this youthful ambition of his was yet again crushed few days ago. If someone was to blame, he would blame Drew for entering her life─and gaining her love. But, he had seen the light; he realized that nothing in this world was guaranteed and that we could always lose someone we love. No matter how much we hated it, there's no telling whether we could really fulfill everything we wished. Undesirable situations happen, and to him, it was her falling in love with Drew.

"You're not going to cry, are you?" May hesitantly asked when Brendan's expression dimmed. The black-haired boy quickly changed his expression into a grin.

"Of course not!" he fixed the position of his beanie, "I'm just sad we have to depart. And, not sad enough to cry."

May's brow tilted playfully, "Oh, really? I'm pretty sure three years ago-"

"WE PROMISED WE'RE NEVER GOING TO TALK ABOUT IT ALRIGHT?!" Brendan interrupted somewhat loudly, a small trickle of sweat dropping on his forehead. Drew, who was standing behind May, was honestly quite baffled by his reaction. What was it that the jet-haired kid needed to hide so much?

"Fine, fine," May's giggle hadn't faltered, "How long is it until your train, again?"

Brendan's sighed a resignation sigh. Checking his PokeNav, he muttered, "Almost forty five minutes."

"I think it's enough for a cup of hot cocoa and some breadsticks, right?" May grinned, "There's a café nearby."

Both Brendan and Drew looked at the small kiosk May gestured to, and somehow agreed in sync. As always, May had been the most enthusiastic, mildly jogging to reach the café next to the train station they were at. Drew and Brendan were left behind silently thinking just how this girl loved food so much.

"Well, Drew," Unexpected by Drew, Brendan started a conversation. Drew watched as the ruby-eyed boy slipped his hands inside the pockets of his jeans.

"You probably know this already, but if you hurt her in any way, I'm going to hurt you as well." He earnestly uttered without expression. "Of course I hope you won't. I know what happened was partly my fault, but now you know how I feel about her, and I'm not going to forgive you if you hurt her again."

Brendan paused for a while before taking a deep breath. "I respect that she likes you and that she's willing to hurt herself for you─kind of, but that doesn't mean I'm going to forget my feelings for her. She has and will always have a special place in my heart. It would fade, but it wouldn't disappear. In any event that you do something unfavorable to her and I'm notified about it, I will remind her again of my feelings. Just so you know."

Brendan gave Drew a last glance before silently walking faster up ahead, catching up to May. Drew did not respond, but he understood everything Brendan had spoken, and firmly kept it inside his mind as well. He did have a slight aversion to the guy, but it didn't mean he'd ignore everything. At the very least, Drew had a small respect grown for him for respecting May and Drew both.

The train carrying Brendan to his destination had just taken off and May was staring off at the monorail getting smaller and smaller as it moved farther away. The separation was difficult for both her and Brendan; the two of them shared a long hug. Even after Brendan had boarded the train, they were continuously waving at each other.

"I feel kind of hungry," he heard May mutter when he snapped back to reality.

Drew raised an eyebrow. "Didn't we just eat?" He rose from his previous leaning position against a column.

"..." May stared off to the ground, "Or it's just sadness making me hungry, I guess."

They started to walk back to the Pokémon Center to get their Pokémon, and probably continue with their journey (if May doesn't insist to get food along the way). The walk to the Pokémon Center was silent before May decided to ask a rather weird question.

"Drew," May's eyes glanced down for a while before meeting Drew's, "What would you do if I died?"

What?

"Why are you asking about that?" Drew enquired suspiciously, raising an eyebrow.

"Just answer," she replied, her expression showing less patience.

"How am I supposed to answer such a strange question?" Drew quipped, "Why are you asking that kind of question, anyway?"

"Just answer whatever you think!" she urged. Drew looked at her strangely, giving no answer. May's expression went to something more of an unhappiness than that of impatience. Drew seemed to be stalling to make her spit out some kind of explanation, but what he waited for didn't come.

After a few seconds of baiting for nothing, Drew spoke up with his own impatient expression. "Okay, out with it, May. What's the disease?"

"Huh?" May's eyebrow raised.

"What illness are you suffering of." He deadpanned. May's eyebrow raised even more.

She placed her hands against her hips, "I'm not! I'm healthy! Alright, let me rephrase the question then, what would you do if I disappeared?"

Drew gave her a questioning stare. "... Find you?"

May's expression narrowed. "What? That sounds too easy! Okay, let me rephrase it again. What would you do if you lost me?"

"Why are you suddenly asking this kind of question?" Drew voiced, seeming quite aggravated by what she'd been asking for the past couple of minutes. Just why is she asking this, anyway?!

May shrugged, one of her hand straightening her fringe. "Well, nothing, I'm just curious."

Drew eyed her. "Really?"

"Can't you just answer the damn question?" she retorted, making obvious her patience was running thin. Silence ensued.

Mulling over everything for a split second, Drew decided it wouldn't harm to let her have her answer to what she wanted so badly to know. "Fine, repeat your intended question."

May pursed her lips for a moment, "Umm... What would you do if one day you lost me?"

"Well, I'd make sure that never happens." He said simply.

"What would you do to prevent it from happening?" she probed further.

"... Whatever it takes?" he responded, mild shrugging.

"Like what? Can't you give an example?" she grumbled, "Jeez, you're answering it like it's not a big deal,"

"For one, I cannot answer because before it happens. I'll make sure that is not going to happen ever so that I will never experience it, thus, I don't have to consider about what would be my reaction or action for that matter."

"Hm..." May narrowed her eyes at him, seeming to study his expression.

After that, she heaved a breath and resignedly waved her hand. "Fine fine. I just want to know to what extent you're willing to risk yourself for me."

Drew's lips quirked into a small─if not unnoticeable─smile. "You'll never have to worry."

Never have to worry? Never have to worry my ass.

May forcefully blows snot out to the tissue. As much as she despises it, she has been crying and reminiscing while reading the paper hearts which was─ironically─given by none other than the one she's been crying about: Drew. It is not sure whether she is plainly torturing herself or in denial of what happened yesterday. Drew has told her they can't be together, not giving any reason or explanation as to why, and May has been hiding away in her room because of that. She thinks she needs some time alone, but in reality, she cannot deny that she really needs him now.

What happened to all the things he had promised to her back then? What happened to all the words he had said? Didn't they mean anything? Didn't what they had gone through these years mean anything? What could be making him leave her now, out of all times? After he seems so serious to take this 'relationship' to the next level, too. Why is it so? ...

May glanced at the clock on her night stand─it's almost the time for the Gym Leaders' Gathering party her dad has asked her to attend, yet she has not gotten ready. She really doesn't want to go at the moment, but it cannot be helped that her father demands her to go.

After tossing the tissue to the nearby trash can, she gets up from her bed and grabs a dress she's supposed to wear. "Might as well see if Brendan's going too." She murmurs to herself, strutting to the bathroom.

May stuffs a spoonful of ice-cream into her mouth, savoring the coldness against her taste buds. At least they have some decent ice-cream here.

"Thought I would see you here," a feminine voice greets May, taking a seat next to her in the dessert corner. "It's been a while, May."

"Hi, Soledad! It's so nice to see you!" For the first time that night, May genuinely smiles. "How did you get here?"

"Well, Cynthia, the Sinnoh Champion, happens to be my older sister, so she brought me along. I thought it's a good way to expand my circle as well., so here I am." Soledad smiles back at the brunette.

The cerise-haired woman continues, "But you seem uninterested, why? Is something troubling you?"

"Actually, about that..." May trails off for a while, scooping her ice-cream then putting it back again to the bowl, "I... Drew has just...broken up with me. If you consider us being in a relationship at all."

"Really? How could it have happened," Soledad seems to be quite surprised as she partly exclaims, "I am so sorry for you, but I'm sure Drew doesn't mean to. Did he say anything?"

"Uh, yeah... I hope?" May replies expressionlessly, "He didn't say anything though, he just kind of cut off the whole thing."

"He probably has his complications," Soledad says, looking down at the small bowl of ice-cream she brought for herself.

"Yeah, I suppose..." May says with a quiet sigh.

Soledad seems to be thinking over something quite seriously, or at least that's what May thinks when she stares at the older girl. Her guess is proven right when Soledad speaks up, ice cream in hand forgotten.

"Actually, there is something I have known for a while and I think you should know, too. However, I am not sure if Drew has disclosed this part of him to you although he has told me before that he's going to tell you someday. It's about his mental condition."

"Mental condition?" Now May's confused. What mental condition, exactly? I'm just so confused. Is she trying to say Drew has a mental disease?

"Ah, so I guess you haven't been told about it." Soledad assumes, "Drew has OCD. He probably doesn't want to tell anybody. As for myself, I found out about it when he dropped his Fluvoxamine in the backstage of a contest we were competing in. I had a clue it was some kind of antidepressant because my grandmother is a professor and she taught me and Cynthia about it. I did not want to jump into conclusion, though, that's why I asked him about the drug, and when he became too defensive, I knew something's up. After I probed, he eventually disclosed that he has it. However, he said nothing else, so, naturally, I became concerned. Fortunately, I knew his mother, so when I visited her, I asked whether she knows, and she told me everything."

May is stupefied by the new information. What is she supposed to do with this piece of knowledge she's just gotten? She doesn't know much, but she knows that OCD has something to do with compulsive behavior.

"OCD is short for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, right?" May hesitantly reconfirms what she knows, and relieving when Soledad nods. She still has so much to ask, but Soledad starts to fill in the details even before she asks.

"You're probably confused because Drew has not showed any sign of having it. Why he's not really showing his obsessive and compulsive behaviors is that, according to his mother, he is suffering from a minor disorder. In short, it's not really something to be extremely worried about."

True, for a moment, May thinks that Drew couldn't possibly has OCD because he doesn't really show the signs. However, as she really ponders about it, pieces start to match up. Why Drew acted rather protective of her, why Drew always wants to be perfect, why Drew and Brendan even had disputes back then... It all makes sense now. It's not him being annoying, it's just something he couldn't help but be. Now that she knows all of this, she feels truly sorry she had scolded him of treating her like a child. In fact, she feels sorry for everything she's ever accused him of. To think that she refused to commit in a relationship in fear of him binding her up, how hurtful it must've been for him to hear the rejection of the one you love because of something you couldn't help! He didn't purposely be annoying, it's his mind controlling him to be so!

"Oh my God," May utters in realization, "I must go apologize to him now. I... I have done so much hurtful things to him without─"

"It's alright, May, don't reciprocate yourself, I'm sure Drew understands. However, if you want to talk to him, I suggest you to talk to his mother first. She will tell you everything, and, I think it's better to hear more from her in person."

"Alright," May heaves a deep breath, "I have to get out from here but how?!"

Just when Soledad is about to speak, Brendan shows up with a bowl of ice-cream, "Hey, May. Sorry for taking so long for a toilet break, your dad was talking to me, and I think he's coming here in a bit,"

"Brendan! Would you please tell dad I'm leaving for a while?!" May pleads, getting up from her seat.

"But─"

"Please!" May interrupts him, "I have a really important thing to take care of."

"You're not going anywhere until this party's over, okay?" Suddenly, Norman's voice comes up to May. He is walking towards her along with a graceful young man with silky silver hair. The young man smiles at her, but she is not smiling back, instead, her expression morphs into something like a mix of anger and disappointment.

"I have-"

"I'm sure whatever it is, it could wait until this party's over, no?" Norman says, "Moreover, I would like to introduce you to Steven. This is the champion of Hoenn."

"Dad, I appreciate it but I have a very important matter and it cannot wait. I'm going!" May cries out as she runs toward the nearest exit.

"Wait-"

"Take my Pidgeot with you, May!" Soledad throws her a Pokéball, which she fortunately catches with success. She smiles briefly at Soledad for the help, and ignores everyone else's stare. Norman, being quite embarrassed by the situation, briskly marches to catch up to her, but she swiftly runs and releases Pidgeot from its Pokéball. As if already knowing what to do, it glances at its trainer with a nod and takes off with May riding on its back.

Soledad smiles at both May and her Pidgeot, but needless to say, Norman is furious about it and he─not so calmly─approaches the woman with strawberry red hair.

"Why did you support her? Do you know how important this event is to both her career and mine?" the enraged father speaks, his eyes showing imminent anger.

"I know, but you, sir, should also realize that she probably values her own happiness more than her career, and as her father, you should support her pursuing her happiness, no?" Soledad calmly counters. When Norman's expression changes, Soledad continues, "Well, you probably don't know where she's going and what she's planning to do, but whatever it is, I can assure you it's for her own good and you should not be worried about it."

Brendan is honestly stumped at how Soledad manages to respect yet embarrass Norman at the same time. Wow. This gal is really something else.

Author's Note: Things are slowly unfolding. I'll try to update as soon as possible. I sometimes forget I have a fic going on, that's all. It doesn't mean I'm over contestshipping! I still love it like crazy. Hahaha. I'm really sorry guys! Thanks for your patience, I really appreciate all of you.