Drip. Drop. Splash.

May held her hand out from underneath the edge of the roof. She stood beside the door to the Pokemon Center while other trainers entered and exited the building. She'd planned to go shopping today, but without an umbrella, she was doomed.

With a sigh, she leaned against the wall. It was so boring in Petalburg that she couldn't understand why tourists even bothered to come. Sure, her dad's gym was there, but it wasn't like trainers had to stay for months on end. The problem was that that was precisely what they often did.

Argh, why did it just have to rain today? Right on the day she had off from any Contests. And there were barely any clouds, for goodness' sakes.

Drip-drop-splash.

Footsteps neared. May didn't bother to look up, because she just knew that it was just another trainer, she just knew that they would have no relevance in her life, and--

"May."

A gasp flew from her lips as she looked up. For a moment she couldn't believe her eyes.

But there he was. There he was, in the flesh, the real deal, not some fantasy conjured in her mind. Green hair, green eyes, and a smirk arrogant enough to top Gary Oak's.

Drew.

"Drew!" she exclaimed. Finally, someone to alleviate her boredom.

"Hey." He chuckled. "Long time no see."

She noticed the umbrella in his hand. He seemed to notice her noticing his umbrella. "Need it?" he offered.

"Uh, yeah..." May chewed her lip. To take or not to take...

"How about I share it with you?"

May blinked. Had he always been this charitable? "Okay," she said, before her brain could catch up.

Before she knew what was going on, for some insane reason he was walking beside her, shielding her with his umbrella, and smiling. There was something seriously wrong with the picture. For one, Drew wasn't the helping kind of person. And two, he wasn't smirking.

"Why aren't you smirking?" May asked.

Now Drew smirked. "What? Smirking? Have I ever smirked at you?"

"Ugh," groaned May, hitting herself on the forehead. "Nevermind."

Drew ignored the last statement and continued. "What did you plan on doing today?"

She sighed. "Shopping. I don't have anything better to do besides train my Pokemon, but it's raining and Dad's using the gym, so that's out."

Somehow, as she said it, Drew's smirk seemed even more satisfied.

"All right. I'll take you to the mall."

"What." May stopped in her tracks. Drew stopped with her. "You are not coming with me to the mall."

"I'm the one with the umbrella, aren't I?" He waved the handle at her smugly.

May opened her mouth to say something, then closed it.

"Exactly."

~~roses~~

She wasn't really sure how she had ended up like this. Drew was walking beside her. With her. A hint of a smile on his face.

And they were at the local Petalburg mall.

"Why are you here, anyways?" she asked, somewhat curiously, as they browsed the aisles in the bookstore. "I thought you lived in Littleroot."

"Yeah. I usually stay with my cousins, but none of them are trainers or Coordinators. What can I say? It gets boring. So I'm staying here for the moment."

So you don't think I'm boring? May wondered silently.

Drew had long since abandoned his umbrella and was simply walking by her side. The two of them drew some looks from fellow Coordinators nearby, but they were simply ignored. At least, May hoped so.

"Drew, I think some people might take this the wrong way," May said warily.

"Take what the wrong way?" His smile, when he turned to her, was like a 5000-watt lightbulb.

"You... with me...?" she quavered. "Alone?"

To her shock, she felt his arm close around her waist, and he slowly, gently pulled her closer to him. May wasn't sure, but she suddenly felt like hyperventilating. Drew's smooth voice whispered in her ear. "Well, what do you think?"

"I-I... I..."

Obviously, he's had some experience in this area, the last rational part of her mind told her. The rest of her mind was floating in a pink cloud.

"No objections?" His face held something between a smirk and a smile. May was confused.

"I'm confused."

"Good." For a second, it looked like he was about to say something else, but stopped. He frowned slightly, tilted his head-- and then looked away.

May swallowed nervously. Of course, Drew had always made her feel somewhat nervous, but he'd never been so close before. He'd only caught her alone a few times, rival-to-rival, but those times he'd simply been calm, cool, and collected. This was different. This was... what would she call this? This Drew was so interesting.

She tried to ignore the weird, fluttery feelings in her stomach that always happen to characters in fluff fics. "S-so... um..." At random she picked a book from the shelves. "Ever read this one before?"

"A History of Modern Pokemon?" Drew gave her a bemused look. "You just picked that one at random, didn't you? Just to make conversation."

"Well..." May shoved the book back into the shelf, feeling somehow cheated, "are you entering the next contest?"

"Yes." Drew seemed relieved that she had chosen a safe - safe? - topic for them to discuss. "Roselia and Flygon. The two of them have been training for it for weeks."

"Then why do you seem to have the day off?" May said suspiciously.

"It's for you."

"Wha--" she began. "What do you mean?"

Drew nearly smirked again. "Do you happen to know," he said slowly, "what day it is today?"

"Um." May looked down at her digital watch. "February fourteenth?"

Then the realization came flooding in. Or rather, it hit her.

Ohmigosh.

And then there was no more room for thoughts, because Drew's lips met hers.

~~roses~~

Several minutes later, May was clinging to Drew as they walked outside, skirting the puddles and dodging splashes from passing cars.

She was laughing. And Drew was laughing.

Making out in the bookstore had been decidedly odd. She'd been startled, to say the least, and unsure of... what to do. The first kiss had been awkward.

But that didn't mean that the others had to be awkward, too.

"Drew," she said, half to him and half to the ground, "have you kissed before?"

"Now I have, haven't I?"

May blushed. "I mean before today."

Drew ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "Does it matter?"

"Yes."

May stopped and looked into Drew's eyes. He flinched.

"Yes. I have."

"I thought so," she said in a low voice.

"May, it doesn't matter."

She bit her lip. "Yeah. It doesn't."

She heard him sigh from beside her. She looked back at him and saw, to her own disbelief, that he was holding his face in one hand.

"Drew?"

"May..." he looked up, "it doesn't matter."

"It doesn't."

"Yeah." He still didn't move.

May walked back to him and stopped a foot away. It was odd, because she wanted to hug him and tell him it was all right and that he didn't have to angst about it because it didn't matter anyways. She knew he shouldn't angst about it. It was... trivial. It didn't matter.

"Drew," she said in a low voice, "it doesn't matter. At all."

Silence from him.

"Drew." She tried again. "You're just being self-centered."

Silence again.

"You're telling yourself that you ought to have known better and that you should have been able to do better for my sake or for whatever lame reason you came up with. That kind of self-pity is actually a form of pride. None of us are perfect. Right? So you don't have to be perfect for yourself, for me, for anyone. And if you come up with another stupid argument, I'm going to crush it."

Silence. Then, "This is so weird."

"What?"

"You're teaching me psychology."

He smiled a smile that was almost a real smile. May gazed up at him, unsure, debating with herself. She stepped toward him, one foot nearly touching his. Slowly, she slid her arms around his neck, pressed her face into his shoulder, and held him tightly.

"Drew," she whispered. "You're not perfect. And you don't have to be."

She felt his own arms close around her waist, not demanding, not light, but there. For a long time they held each other, unmoving, not wanting to move.

Drew's voice was barely a whisper when he said, "I made it rain today."

"What?"

"I made it rain." He pulled away from her a little to look at her. "I made it rain just so I would have an excuse to be with you."

"What are you talking about?"

"Why don't you ask all of your friends where their Water Pokemon went?" A light, teasing smile played about his lips.

May stared at him. "You didn't."

"Oh, yes I did. You can call Misty if you want."

A smile of utter bewilderment slowly spread over her face even as he took her face in his hands. "Why?"

"Because." He tilted his head and kissed her again. "That's why."