December 31st (Hearthome City, Sinnoh)

(Leaf's POV)

I sighed as I took a seat next to Gary before letting my head thunk on the table.

"Let me guess, you got hit on again?" May guessed.

"Twice," I muttered as I raised my head. "Seriously, if a girl walks in with a guy and sticks to him most of the night, most chances are she's dating him."

"Need to remember that most of the asshats here are drunk so they won't know better," May reminded.

"Plus there are perverts at these clubs," I added as Gary wrapped his arm around me and pulled me to his side.

After Christmas, the girls and I decided to stay where we were and we hung out with our significant other. A few hours ago, we flew in to Hearthome to celebrate New Year's Eve. Currently, we were at the Misdreavus, an upscale dance club. Most of us were sitting in a booth we reserved while Ash and Misty were dancing and Dawn went to use the bathroom.

"We just need to be careful. Speaking of careful, where is Dawn? Hopefully, she didn't get cornered," May said with a slight frown.

"I think it's the other way around, I think whoever tries to hit on her needs to watch it. She's armed and dangerous," I smirked.

"Aren't we all," May added smirking in return.

Dawn then quickly ran up to us, "You guys will never guess what just happened?!" she said excitedly.

"You got hit on?" I guessed.

"Not this time," Dawn muttered. "Wouldn't let up to til I pulled a knife on him."

"Dawn," May called as she snapped her fingers in front of Dawn's face.

"Sorry, anyway, what if I told you I got us to chance to stay at a private beach house to ourselves in the Orange Islands next week.

"I'd say you're nuts," May and I said monotoned.

"Who's nuts?" Ash asked as he and Misty came up.

"Dawn," I answered.

"Figures," Misty teased as she and Ash sat down.

Dawn gave a Paul-like glare, "Zip it."

Misty held up her hands in mock fear, "I'm so scared."

"Anyway, why are you calling Dawn nuts?" Ash asked.

"Because I asked them, what if we got a chance to stay at a private beach house to ourselves in the Orange Islands next week," Dawn repeated.

"I concur with what Leaf and May said, you're nuts," Misty answered.

"Why is it so hard to believe?" Dawn demanded.

"To put in Waterflower Sister terms," Misty said as she coughed and got into her sister's valley girl pose. "Uh…do you like not know that it is like super expensive and like anybody who's anybody has to like book it in advance if you like want something decent."

Misty then shivered, "I just scared myself, that was way too accurate."

We all laughed while Dawn tsked, "Fine, you all can make fun, but I'm gonna be on the beach."

"How do you procure these reservations Pinky?" Gary asked.

"You know how I've been helping Paris for the past few days?" Dawn asked.

"Yeah, how could I forget. You kept me up asking rhetorical questions about fashion at 2:00 AM," Paul muttered.

"It's not my fault that Reggie and Maylene are in the process of turning the guest bedroom into a nursery and I had to stay in your room," Dawn retorted as she stuck her tongue out. "Anyway, Paris said she wanted to thank me and suggested the idea, but if you don't want to go…."

"Sign me up!" I shouted.

"Eager are we Leafy?" Gary teased.

"Are you kidding me? It's warm there and not cold. The hell I'm not going," I retorted.

"Are you sure Paris is okay with this?" Drew asked.

"I certainly am. I'm happy that Dawn gave me so much help that I don't see a problem with you all staying there for the remainder of break," Paris said happily as she walked up to Dawn.

"Happy New Year!" May greeted with a smile.

"Same to you," Paris smiled back.

"For the beach house, is it alright if we show up tomorrow?" Dawn asked.

"That shouldn't be a problem," Paris said with a nod.

"Hey Paris!" someone called.

"Excuse me," she said as she left for the person that called.

"Well, are you in or not?" Dawn asked again.

"I think you've got our vote," May answered grinning with the shake of her head.

"Alright people, it's time for kkkaaarrrraaaoookkkkeeee," the DJ shouted in getting the crowd hyped up.

"Figures," May said with a roll of her eyes as she took a sip of her drink and the crowd cheered.

I then saw a guy in his late 30s walk up to the DJ and whisper something in his ear.

"Crap," May cursed.

We all looked her confused, "He's the guy who ran the EP contest."

"So?" I said confused.

"He's gonna want us to…"

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have the winners of Cresselia Records EP album contest in the building," the DJ announced as a spotlight was thrown on our table. "How about we have them kick it off!"

"So much as for anonymous," I muttered with everyone in the club cheering as I got up with May. "What are we singing?"

"I have no clue," May said tiredly as we walked up to the DJ booth.

"Any song in particular?" she asked the guy next to the DJ.

"We'll surprise you," the guy said with a sneaky grin.

"Great," I muttered as we were handed microphones and walked on stage. "That's helpful."

As the music started playing, May and I recognized it immediately causing us to smirk and move to the beat.

"Life is good, I can't complain. I mean, I could but no one's listening. Your image overwhelms my brain. And it feels good, good, good," May sang.

"Now I'm rolling my window down. I love the wind, but I hate the sound. You're like a tattoo that I can't remove. And it feels good, it feels good, it feels good," I sang before we both jumped into the chorus as people went to dance on the center floor.

By the time we finished the song, everyone was giving us a standing ovation, "Who thought that song was like whoa?" the DJ asked playing on words.

The audience applauded again chanting "sing, sing, sing".

"I'm done," I said as I walked to the DJ booth to return my microphone, "but she's happy to stay."

May rolled her eyes at me as she gave the DJ a flashdrive, "Alright you guys, who's up for another original?" May shouted trying to pump up the crowd.

I cheered with everyone as I made my way back where everyone was seated.

Guitar music started to play and it got me wanting to dance as May began to sing.

"Now that I have captured your attention, I want to steal you for a rhythm intervention."

"Dance with me!" I shouted to Gary as I pulled his arm to follow me on the dance floor.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

(May's POV)

I watched people put out onto the floor, including the gang, but Drew. As I continued to sing, Drew gave me a knowing smirk and I winked in response. If he thought he was sitting this out, he was sadly mistaken.

"Oh, oh, can we take it nice and slow, slow," I sang as I slowly made my way to where Drew was sitting. "Break it down and drop it low, low. 'Cause I just wanna party all night in the neon lights 'til you can let me go."

I then sat down next to him, "I just wanna feel your body right next to mine all night long. Baby, slow down the song."

I then slowly caressed his face down to his arm, "And when it's coming closer to the end hit rewind. All night long Baby, slow down the song."

I then grabbed his hand and pulled him to the dance floor with me, dancing with him as I sang the rest of the song. After giving a short laugh at the end, I went back to the DJ booth to give back the microphone and collect my flashdrive.

I gripped the flashdrive thinking of the past few days. After receiving the shocking news Christmas Day, it took everything in me to keep a smile on my face and not worry Drew. After panicking him in me possibly having cancer a few weeks ago, I couldn't bear to tell him that it was true. I vowed to myself that I would hide this even if it killed me.

Also with the revelation of this news, it made me realize that I might not have forever anymore and there was so much I still wanted to do. One of those things was creating music. I'd put it on hold for so long since I was busy that I felt I needed to bring it back into my life. With that in mind, I spent my free time working in my small music studio in the basement of the bungalow when Drew had things he had to do. The song I just sang was one of the few songs I had been working on in the past few days.

"When did you create that number?" Misty asked snapping me out of my thoughts.

I blinked realizing I was back at the table, "In the past few days, I had to do something to keep me busy while Drew had stuff to do," I answered as I sat down next to Drew.

"Looks like it's another hit. Are you gonna put it on Poketunes?" Dawn asked.

I shrugged my shoulders, "Haven't decided yet."

"Which most likely means yes," Drew teased with a smirk as he took my hand that was under the table and squeezed it.

As he did that, it caused me to look into his eyes and I saw a certain level of playfulness. He was gonna back at me for the performance.

I smirked back, "Could be yes, could be no," I retorted as I gave him a quick peck before my compowder went off.

"Angel," I answered.

"Hey Maple! Long time no chat," a voice answered with an undertone of flirtiness.

"How did you get this number?" I asked slightly suspicious.

"I have my ways."

"If you're looking for someone to clean up your mess, I'll pass," I said flatly.

"Relax, I didn't call for that."

"Really? Says the guy who likes to get into the pants of rich, married women," I retorted causing everyone at the table to look at me weird.

"Can't confirm or deny that?" he responded causing me to roll my eyes.

"Riiigggghhhttt. Why are you calling me?" I asked.

"I'm calling on a solid I owe you."

"Last time I checked that's not how it works."

"Listen, my latest rendezvous is the wife of a big shot crime boss. She let it slip that the douche bag is gonna try to steal a weapon's shipment of PHPA's."

I frowned, "How do I know your word is legit?"

"You don't. I just wanted to give you a head's up since you're with them and all."

"Why? Guilty conscious for all you're womanizing?"

"No because he plans a hostile takeover with this theft. The Honchcrow Syndicate, the Darkrai Riders, the Drapion Clan, he's planning to take over at least one of them."

My frown grew, "Look, I said my piece. Whether you act on this info is up to you. Peace babe."

He then hung up causing me to pull my compowder away in annoyance.

"And a Happy New Year to you to pal," I muttered as I snapped my compowder shut.

"What was that about?" Drew asked in concern.

"Don't really know," I answered honestly. "They called me to warn me."

"Who? And warn you of what?" Dawn asked.

"An acquaintance," I said as I took a sip of my drink. "He's someone I ran into a few years ago. He's a low life player that likes to get into the pants of rich, married women."

"How the hell did you meet a guy like that?" Leaf asked surprised.

"I saved his ass when the guard dog of a local gang was ordered to pummel him for messing with his boss's wife. He bargained that he would give me helpful information if I saved him. At the time, I just wanted to stop pleading and begging because he was drawing attention so I helped him."

I frowned, "And in return, he gave me information that was spot on."

"Which was?" Gary asked.

"The location of the Macargo Ring in Olivine City. At the time, I was trying to rescue that one businessman's daughter, but I had no idea where she was. Max was busy and I had a few limited resources so I barhopped quite a bit in looking for info," I explained.

"Wait a minute, you barhopped?" Misty asked to clarify. "How old were you?"

"Just shy of 16," I answered as I finished my drink.

"WHAT?" almost everyone shouted.

I smirked some, "I've done some crazy stuff back in the day."

Drew sighed, "Next you'll tell stories of how you were undercover in a brothel."

"Actually….." I started to say causing Drew to frown.

"Babe, relax. I'm kidding," I said with a straight face. "I've never stooped that low and I never plan to."

"You better not or I'm locking you up," Drew threatened as he took a sip of his drink.

I internally gave a small grin, I had no doubt he would follow through with that. His overprotectiveness of me was one of the things I loved about him.

"I have no doubt," I said as I kissed his cheek. "Anyway, the guy called to give me a tip."

"Is it legit?" Paul asked.

"I don't know. He hasn't given me bad info before," I said before sighing. "Whether it's legit or not, I should probably check it out."

I stood up, "I'll meet you guys at the hotel, if not, then Paris' beach house."

I started to leave, but I felt Drew get up, "I'm coming with you."

I turned my head to face him, "It's nothing big. I'll be fine."

Drew frowned, "I'm not budging on this. I'm coming with you."

I gave a small smile, "Will it ease your conscious?"

Drew said nothing, but his eyes screamed everything.

I turned my head and started walking out, "You coming or not?" I asked him telepathically.

I heard him jog to catch up to me before putting a hand the small of my back as we walked out.

"Okay, first we have to…." I started to say as we took the back alley exit to avoid being scene only for me to be pushed against the wall by Drew as he started to kiss me senseless.

"As much….as I would…..love to….make out….with you….We have…..stuff….to do," I struggled to say in between kisses.

Drew gave me one final kiss before letting me go, "So what's the plan?"

"As I was trying to say before I was rudely interrupted," I teased as Drew grabbed me from behind and nuzzled my neck. "We need to grab my laptop at the hotel."

"Why?" Drew asked as he moved to grab my hand as we started walking back to the hotel.

"I need to gain access to PHPA's network. I need to look up something that determines our next move," I explained.

Drew said nothing as we walked back to the hotel up to the room I was sharing with Dawn. I sat on the bed and booted up my laptop as Drew took a seat next to me. After logging into my computer and PHPA's network, I started looking for weapon shipments to PHPA's warehouses in Sinnoh.

"Why are you looking at weapon shipments?" Drew asked.

"My info broker of sorts tipped off that someone is going to try and steal a weapon shipment from PHPA," I explained as I was typing.

Drew frowned, "Shouldn't we pass this on to Clair?"

I shook my head, "Doesn't matter. She'd probably assign me to investigate anyway."

After a few more clicks, I found the information I was looking for.

"It doesn't look like any shipments are being moved tonight," Drew said.

I frowned, "What's the biggest warehouse for PHPA in Sinnoh?"

"Outside of Hearthome, why?" Drew asked.

"Call it a hunch," I muttered as I got up and grabbed my compowder.

I then activated the function for my clothes to change into stealth clothes.

"Please tell me we aren't breaking in," Drew sighed.

"Okay, we're not," I answered.

"May."

"Fine, we're not breaking in. We're sneaking in," I responded.

"Really?" Drew asked sarcastically.

I rolled my eyes, "Babe, this is what I'm doing. Either you're coming or not."

Drew sighed and followed suit as I grabbed a pair of x-ray contact lens and looked up the coordinates of the warehouse on my poketch.

"What else did your so-called 'info broker' tell you?" Drew asked telepathically as we started to sneak out of our hotel into the back alleys.

"He said some gang was going to hijack this shipment to use in taking over another gang."

"Did he say which?"

"No. Have you looked at gang profiles recently?" I asked.

"No, we usually are called to deal with thefts and bringing down weirdo villains."

"Hmm....," I hummed in thought as I frowned.

"What?"

"I wonder if it's the Toxicroak Triad that's behind this," I murmured.

"Who?" Drew asked as I stopped to pull out my compowder to see how far away we were.

"The Toxicroak Triad," I repeated, "I overhead talk about them amongst PHPA analysts. Apparently, they are a new upcoming gang that's been causing quite a problem in the past month or so in Sinnoh. They've been slowly acquiring other gang's territory. The question is who are they trying to take over?"

"We don't even know if they are," Drew reminded.

"Point taken," I agreed as we got to the warehouse.

I activated my contact lenses and looked inside, "Security is minimal," I reported as I saw only a few guards.

I looked Drew and saw him concentrating before frowning, "I don't like how things look in there."

I frowned in response, "What do you mean?"

"I think the guards are incapacitated."

I used my aura to check, "Their auras are weak, that's not good."

We then snuck over and went inside through the back door after picking the lock.

We cautiously made our way over to where the guards were and I saw that they were shot.

I took one's pulse, "It's faint, but he's still alive."

"Same with this guy," Drew reported.

"Put your back into punks! Those guns have got to be in here somewhere," someone shouted.

"Ah come on Scarface. There's a shit ton of crates to search," another whined.

"And we already went through half so keep looking," another snapped.

Drew and I looked at each other and snuck our way closer to the voices.

"You take the guy shouting orders, I'll deal with the two henchmen," I said after a minute.

Drew nodded and we split ways.

"Hey Iris, when are the rest of the gang coming?" the guy who complained earlier asked.

"Right now," someone said from behind me as I felt a barrel on the back of my neck. "Walk."

I forced myself to walk forward and heard more foot falls behind me.

"Whatcha got there Snitch?" Scarface asked.

"A snitch," Snitch smirked.

I rolled my eyes as Iris came forward and the gang, about 11 total, surrounded us, "What do we owe this pleasure?" she asked.

I shrugged my shoulders, "Got lost."

"Right," she said not believing me. "Who are you?"

I smirked, "Why should I tell you?"

"Eh boss, I know her. She's May Maple. I heard she took down the Macargo Ring last year with PHPA," someone shouted.

"Sorry to disappoint you babe, but you aren't bringing down the Toxicroak Triad. We've got big plans ahead of us," Scarface answered. "Kill her."

"Is that wise?" I asked. "I didn't come alone. My partner is here with me."

"You're bluffing," Scarface said as he grabbed my chin and moved my head around to inspect my face. "I've changed my mind sweet cheeks. You've got such a pretty face, we'll save you for later after we finish our takeover."

"Ah!" he shouted as he got shot with an aura bullet by Drew. "Did I forget to mention that my partner is also my overprotective boyfriend who doesn't appreciate guys with eyeing me like a piece of meat."

I then stepped on Snitch's foot to break his concentration and grabbed his hand to throw his arm across my leg to drop his gun.

Drew continued to shoot as he got closer to everyone while I started fighting hand to hand. After a few minutes, I knocked out the last person as Drew called PHPA for back up.

A few minutes later, authorities arrived to take away the Triple Triad while the guards were rushed to the hospital.

"What the hell happened here?" Gary asked as we helped agents put gang members in armed trucks.

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked.

"We got a call for nearby agents to help so what happened?" Gary asked again.

"Tip was right and we busted the hijacking," I summed up as Drew brought up Snitch.

"Pull him aside," I told Drew telepathically. "We should ask some questions."

Drew frowned, "Headquarters will deal with interrogating them."

"Fine, but I want to settle my curiosity first," I said as I took over and guided Snitch over away from everyone.

"Who were you planning to take over?" I asked as Drew and everyone else joined me.

Snitch smirked, "I don't need to tell you a thing doll face."

I smirked back, "Sure you will," I said as Snitch's finger started to twitch.

"Wha....what's happening," he said as his hand flinched in pain.

"Who were you planning to take over?" I asked again as I focused for the pain to spread to his hand.

"Ahh, alright! Make it stop!" Snitch groaned.

I stopped the pain and he pained heavily, "The group doesn't have a name. They're invisible."

"What's their game?"

Snitch smiled slyly, "Why pretty things like you? They made a sure killing over it in the past few months all over and we wanted it for ourselves," he said as he looked me over. "And it's perks."

Before Drew could punch him, I moved my hand so pain shot up Snitch's arm, "AH! BITCH, WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME!" he struggled to shout out.

I smirked, "That's for me to know and you never to."

"Everything okay here?" an agent asked as he walked up.

"Yeah, you can take him," I said.

The agent took Snitch away and everyone looked at him with a slight frown though Drew was seething.

"What the hell just happened? What did you do?" Dawn demanded.

"I gave him persuasion to talk," I said as I inspected my hand.

"May, what was that?" Misty asked flatly.

"Did you know that the human body contains sixty percent water?" I asked.

Everyone looked at me in shock, "You controlled the water in his body?" Leaf asked slowly.

I nodded, "In a sense his blood so we'll call said action blood bending."

"This is breaking some form of moral ethics," Paul said.

I nodded and sighed, "I know, but I knew he wasn't going to answer freely."

"Speaking of that, what was he talking about?" Ash asked.

We frowned, "Nothing good," Drew said with a slight snap as he put an arm around me protectively.

"He was talking about human trafficking, wasn't he?" Leaf said quietly.

I nodded, "I've noticed a lot of missing person reports flood in recently in Sinnoh. Maybe it's a good thing you stayed at Paul's for break Dawn."

Dawn looked slightly stunned, "There's no way. I've walked this streets for years and we've never had a problem."

"You were lucky, many women aren't," I said.

"I could still take them if they tried," she retorted.

"Dawn. Enough," Paul said as he pulled her closer to him.

We then stood in silence for a minute, "Talk about cramping our night," Gary muttered.

I sighed, "Let's just go back to the hotel and we'll leave first thing in the morning. I think we all agree it's maybe best to leave Sinnoh for now."

Everyone nodded and we made our way back to the hotel.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

(Dawn's POV)

As we were walking back with the guys protectively at our sides, I still thought I could take on any creep that tried to kidnap me. Memories then from a few months ago came back and I sighed. I felt helpless in that situation, guess they were right.

After saying good night to the guys, we turned in for the night. I heard rustling at some point a couple hours later and froze with nerves standing on edge. I grabbed a few knives that were under my pillow and sat up ready to throw them. I stopped as I noticed May wasn't in her bed and the door wide open. I grabbed Piplup's pokeball before leaping out of bed and ran out. In the hall, I saw May draped over someone wearing all black.

"HEY!" I shouted loudly hoping to wake someone up to help me as I threw two knives. The guy dodged them and faced me with a pipe. I tried to throw Piplup's pokeball, but I felt a poke and fell over.

"Dawn, what are you....AH!" Leaf screamed as the guy tried to blow a dart at her but missed.

The guys heard Leaf scream and bust out of their rooms. Paul noticed me and ran over to my side while Misty, Ash, Gary, and Drew called out their pokemon to deal with the thug in black.

"Dawn?" Leaf said concerned as she knelt on my other side Paul cradled me close.

I heard everyone shout attacks before I heard a groan, a thud, and Gary shout "crap". I then heard glass breaking and smelled smoke.

"Drew, can you sense anything?" Gary asked.

"He's gone, he flew away on a Salamance," he said angrily.

"Ash, Misty, you two do damage control with the front desk. See if we can get new rooms for the rest of the night. We'll help May and Dawn in their room," Leaf said.

Paul picked me up and took me back to my room while Leaf grabbed Piplup's pokeball and went to her room. She quickly came back with Gary and Drew carrying May.

"We never get a break," Leaf sighed as she took the dart from my leg and dropped some liquid from it onto her compowder scanner pad.

"Is the stuff toxic?" Paul asked after a minute.

Leaf shook her head, "No, it's a typical tranquilizer dart. The paralysis should be out of their systems within a few hours."

"Is there a way to speed up the process?" Drew asked.

"Hmm.......maybe Cheri berries, but I don't know if it'll work," she said.

"I'll text Ash to get some," Gary said as he pulled out his wallet.

"I still don't get why they took May," Drew said concerned.

"I don't know. Good thing Dawn was awake and shouted, otherwise, we wouldn't have known," Leaf said tiredly.

A few minutes later, Ash and Misty returned.

"The hotel only had single rooms with double beds so we got four of them and figured we pair off in couples for the rest of the night," Misty explained as she handed out keycards.

"Here's the Cherri berries," Ash said as he gave them to Leaf.

Leaf then took them to the kitchen in the room and blended the berries into a liquid form.

"Hopefully this'll help," she said as she gave the cup to Paul.

He helped lift me up for me to drink the liquid. As I did so, I suddenly felt extreme heat course through my body. I quickly leaned forward as I felt steam come out of my ears and my face burn up.

"HOT!" I shouted.

Piplup then suddenly appeared out of his pokeball and doused me with hydropump. Granted it felt nice, but it also made a mess and got Paul slightly wet.

"Piplup!" I groaned as I now almost soaked.

Ash burst out laughing while Leaf, Misty, and Gary snickered.

"It's not funny," I whined as Leaf walked to the kitchen while Misty went in the bathroom.

"Relax Pinky, its only water," Gary teased.

"But now I'm soaked and it's 3:00 in the freakin' morning," I groaned as Leaf returned with a glass of milk.

"Piplup," Piplup said sadly.

I sighed, "I know you meant well Piplup, but you can't use something that explosive without understanding what's going on. Now apologize to Paul."

Piplup turned to face Paul and chirped his apology.

Paul rubbed Pipulp's head, "You're forgiven and don't worry about waiting before acting. We know she needs to be cooled down when she's hotheaded.

"EXCUSE ME!" I screeched as Leaf returned with a glass of milk.

"I think this'll be more effective," Leaf said as Misty returned with towels.

"Why couldn't have given me this after Paul gave me the berries?" I said with a slight snap.

"I'm tired and it is 3:00 in the morning," she retorted.

I grumbled under my breath as I drank the milk which helped the spiciness go away.

"I say we call it a night and we sleep in late," Gary called.

"I second that," Ash agreed.

"Night," I called as Leaf, Misty, Ash, and Gary left.

"I think I'll skip giving May the berries and just let her sleep it off. No need for any more explosions," Drew said as he gathered May's stuff.

"Can you get everything okay?" I asked.

"Yea, I'll be fine. Can you watch May real quick while I grab my stuff?" Drew asked.

"Yea, go for it," I said as I finished the milk before looking at Piplup. "Night Piplup."

He chirped as I returned him to his pokeball. I stood up to try and pack my stuff, but I felt weak still and began to fall over.

"Whoa, slow down Troublesome," Paul reprimanded as he caught me. "I don't think the paralyzing agent is out of your system yet."

I sighed and slumped in defeat, "Well too bad because I want to change out these wet clothes and take a shower before I catch a cold."

I was determined to do it so I got up again feeling a little better on my feet. I went to my bag to grab some new sleep wear when I noticed I didn't really have any tops left thanks to Piplup dousing the only one I had. I groaned as I improvised and went to shower. After changing and putting my hair into a braid since I was too lazy to dry it at this point, I stepped out to see that May and Drew had already left and that it was 4:00 AM. I also noticed that Paul had changed his clothes as well.

"I officially hate today," I said randomly as I placed my wet clothes in a plastic bag before gathering my stuff around the room.

"Statement of the year," Paul said tiredly as I felt him watch me move around.

"Is that my shirt?" Paul asked.

"I have nothing else to wear. Besides, it's not the first time I've done it and it certainly won't be the last," I teased as I walked by and kissed his cheek. "Do we need to stop by your room?"

"No, Drew brought my stuff with him when he came back."

'"That would explain the change of clothes," I thought as I packed the last of my stuff.

"Where's the new room?" I asked as I grabbed my bag with Paul doing the same.

"Down a floor."

"Yea, at least we don't have to walk far," I sighed thankfully as we left.

After we reached the new room, I dropped my bag on a nearby chair and flopped on the bed.

"I too tired to move," I mumbled.

"Suit yourself, don't blame me if you catch a cold," Paul warned as he got in bed.

"You're so mean," I whined as I reluctantly got up.

"Yet you seem to want to be with me anyway," Paul retorted as I crawled into bed.

"You bet," I sighed contently as Ii snuggled into his side.

I was about to fall asleep when Paul broke the silence," Are you sure you're okay?"

"Was I explosive in behavior a short while ago?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Did I sass back at people?"

"Yes."

"Then I think that fits your troublesome girlfriend normality requirements so I'm A okay," I teased.

"But I also know that you like to hide stuff and pretend you're fine Dawn," Paul said with slight concern as I felt him pull me closer.

I smiled softly as I leaned over so I was above him, "I'm okay. If nothing else, just tired and slightly annoyed. I'm not hiding anything, I promise."

I then leaned down and kissed him which he reciprocated before pulling me down onto him and held me close.

"Happy New Year," I murmured.

"Happy New Year."