Previously:

"We leave tomorrow morning at 8, so be ready then," Drew said.

"Okay, will do, hopefully everything has calmed down back there," May said gesturing towards the dining room.

"For your sake, I hope so too, good night May," he said as he opened the door.

"Night," she said softly and waved at him as he disappeared into the evening.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

May sat back down at the dining table. She glared at her dad, and began to eat again.

"Did you even stop to realize what you were saying!? Drew has feelings, did that ever occur to you?" May lectured Norman.

"Feelings for you," Max snickered under his breath.

"What did you say Max?" May asked, turning towards him.

"Nothing," he said quickly.

"He knows what I said was true, that's why he left, what a coward," Norman scoffed.

"Norman! That's enough!" Caroline chided him. May stood up and started leaving the table but turned around.

"I'm leaving tomorrow morning with Drew, otherwise we'll miss the boat to Jhoto," May said and stormed out of the room. She went up the stairs and into her room. She dug through her closet and found her backpack and threw it on her bed. She started rummaging around, throwing essentials on the bed. She then went into her bathroom and grabbed the toiletries she needed. She made her way back to her bed, and sat down on red comforter. She began packing everything in her bag. She was about three fourths of the way done when her mom came into her room.

"I'm sorry about your father, you know how he gets sometimes," Caroline said softly.

"Whatever." May mumbles harshly, blowing hair out of her face as she continued to pack.

"Make sure to call us frequently, I want to know where you are and if you're safe," Caroline told her.

"Right, I will. Don't worry, I'll be fine," May let out an annoyed sigh right as she shoved the last shirt into her backpack. Caroline looked at her with concerned eyes.

"Just be careful, I don't want anything to happen to you," she said softly.

"It's the same distance as Kanto, it will be fine Mom," May told her as she stood up and gave her mom a hug.

"Yeah, it will be fine," Caroline said, trying to convince herself more than her daughter. She let go of the embrace and left the room.

≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈

The next morning at 8 o'clock sharp, a rap on the front door startled May as she was putting her shoes on. She opened the door to see Drew, all ready to go.

"Hmph, that's a surprise, didn't take you for a timely girl. Guess I was wrong about you," he shrugged, a slight smirk pulling his lip upward.

"There's a lot of things about me you're wrong about," May accused him, sticking her tongue out at him.

"Have you wrapped up everything around here?" He asked peering over her shoulder and into the house.

"Yeah. Already said goodbye and all that jazz," May said as she tapped the front of her shoe on the ground allowing the shoe to slide on her foot.

"Let's go," she said, slinging her backpack over her shoulder. Their journey began in an uncomfortable silence.

"So...," May started, unsure what to say. "Are you excited to go to Jhoto?" He raised his eyebrows at her.

"No, absolutely terrified," he deadpanned.

"This isn't the comedy zone, Drew," May said, rolling her eyes.

"We'll make it through Route 102 today and stay in Oldale Town for the night. Then tomorrow, we'll make it through Route 103 and set up camp for the night. Then we'll head down Route 110 and make it to Slateport, stay the night and leave the next morning," Drew said, ignoring her remark and laying out the trip.

"Aye aye Captain Drew," May said sarcastically with a mock salute. They continued with silence. It was unbearable for May, the only sounds being their feet on the ground, and the barely audible breathing coming from the boy next to her. She decided she still didn't like the silence.

"So um, Drew, have you ever had a girlfriend?" She mentally cursed herself. Why did she ask that? It caught Drew totally off guard. He coughed for a moment before turning to look at May as if she had three heads.

"Where did that come from?" He said, a slight reddish tint in his cheeks.

"You tend to get chased by fangirls sometimes. I was just curious if one of them caught your eye?" May defended herself. Drew sighed heavily.

"No." He said firmly. May looked slightly surprised. "I don't know why you would think I would have romantic feelings for a girl who chases me and wants to force her fantasies on me," Drew said bitterly.

"Oh," May said quietly. She shouldn't have asked the question anyways.

"You're from LaRousse City right!? What do your parents do?" May asked. She immediately regretted asking that question too. He seemed annoyed.

"They work for the technology company there," He said dryly. "Let's just say they definitely didn't approve of me wanting to become a coordinator."

"Well, obviously things worked out because you're here now!" May smiled. He stiffly nodded his head. May shut her mouth for awhile. Her questions had obviously made him uncomfortable.

≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈≈

The two arrived into Oldale town at sunset, the awkwardness from the morning long gone. They checked out a room in the Pokemon center there, and sat down to eat.

"You know, I just realized, because we are traveling together it will be hard to practice and we would see each other's performances," May noted. Drew sat down his fork.

"That is true, but once we get to Jhoto, we don't have to travel together anymore. It's not like your mom will come all the way to Jhoto if you travel by yourself," Drew said.

"Oh, I see, so you're going to ditch me as soon as we get to Jhoto," May inquired.

"Maybe, something like that, I haven't decided yet what I want to do," he said. May thought back to her uncomfortable questions from earlier. Of course he wouldn't want to travel with her after that.

"My parents would hate your guts if you did that, especially my dad, he might dissect you if he could get his hands on you," May laughed. Drew's face slightly paled.

"I'm still thinking about it okay, I haven't made a decision yet," He explained.

"Well geez, that made me feel better," May said sarcastically.

"Stop making me feel like an awful person okay?" He said, looking away from her.

"You are an awful person," May said. He turned back to look at her, cheek resting on his palm.

"Gee, thanks May, you're an awful person yourself," he said flatly. She just let out a laugh.

"Have you been in touch with Solidad recently?" May asked before taking a bite of her food.

"Yeah, last week or so, we talked over the PokeNav," he answered.

When is she planning on coming to Jhoto?" She asked.

"A few weeks after us, so that gives us a lead on her. Well, them, she's coming with Harley," May wrinkled her nose at the mention of his name. "Yeah, me too, I'd much rather Harley not go because he never plays fair, but he's a friend of Solidad, somehow," he said, his mouth tugging into a frown.

"Yeah, and I always fall for it," May sighed.

"You're so gullible, you would have a hard time traveling by yourself," Drew said.

"Yeah, I get it, I'm irresponsible and I'd have lost my head if you hadn't been with me," She said bitterly.

"You're not that irresponsible, but you have your moments," Drew chuckled.

"Was that a compliment? Wow, I'll have to commemorate the occasion with something, but what?" May said, looking around the dining hall.

"Here, I guess I'll give you one, for once. Don't expect more to be for you," Drew said as he pulled a rose out of his pocket and handing it to her. May accepted it gently, as if it was made of glass.

"Now I really have to remember this because this is the first rose is actually for me," May giggled. "Where do these even come from, Mr. Rose?"

"Ugh, this nickname again. Haven't you ever heard that a magician never reveals his secrets?" Drew said.

"You're a prune," May scoffed.

"And you're a child," Drew retorted. May proved his point by sticking her tongue out at him. He chuckled at her silliness.

"Come on, Airhead, we need some rest for traveling tomorrow, we probably won't get great sleep since we will be camping," he said as he stood up, taking May's plate and utensils with his own and putting them in their designated areas. The two then walked back to their room together. When they unlocked the door, Drew gathered his things and went into the bathroom to get ready for bed. May got dressed into her short red and white striped sleep shorts and white baggy t-shirt. About 15 minutes later, Drew emerged from the bathroom, wearing nothing but a pair of baggy shorts. It surprised May and she had to look away with a slight heat in her cheeks.

"Drew, put on a shirt!" May squeaked. She didn't have to see him to know he smirked at the remark.

"Geez, it's not that big of a deal," He said.

"No! But I didn't want to see your farmers tan! That's disgusting!" May exclaimed, putting a hand over her eyes and peeking at him between her fingers. He was so pasty, it blinded her.

"Ouch!" Drew said, a sarcastic pinch of hurt in his tone. He did pull out a shirt from his bag and slipped it over his head.

"There is that better?" He said. May rubbed her eyes.

"Yes, I can actually see again," May said, satisfied. He narrowed his eyes at her in a slight glare.

"Good night May," he deadpanned and shut off the lights.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

-A/N-

Wow. This took me forever. I was originally going to do one chapter about their entire trip to Slateport, but then it was like, no, too long. So I split it so I could have more time of them building a relationship? Honestly, the last part was so stupid and crappy, but I kinda like it a lot at the same time. I decided I didn't want to be typical and have her freak out about it. Then I thought about Drew's outfit, and I couldn't help but feel like he would have a weird and awkward tan, but it wouldn't be as bad as I described and completely made up.

Anyways, school and life have been crazy for me, so I'm really sorry I haven't really been able to watch any of my shows for about a month now, and that's because I crammed watching like 20 episodes of a show into a weekend and regretted it later. It's really sad. I need my anime. Anyways, I finished this on 11/6/19 but at the rate I'm going, you probably won't see it until 2020 so yaaaaaay, because I write the next chapter for the book before I post the previous one! So I'm one ahead, so I can go back and make edits I guess? I don't know but it works, anyways, I'll see you guys next time!