A/N: Last chapter before the epilogue o_o

Disclaimer: I am getting really bored of saying this, but I don't own Pokemon.

~ ~ ~

I don't wanna hear, I don't wanna know
Please don't say you're sorry
I've heard it all before
And I can take care of myself
I don't wanna hear, I don't wanna know
Please don't say 'forgive me'
I've seen it all before
And I can take care if myself
- Madonna

Losing Grip
four: sorry

Ash's mouth tightened. "Look, May, this can't go on."

"What?" May sniffled and wiped her eyes. Her hands were covered with bandaids.

"It's getting ridiculous. You have to sit down and talk to Drew and resolve this."

"Why do you think it'll be resolved?" May's voice was surprisingly hard. "I told you what he said. There's nothing left, remember? He doesn't care."

"If he didn't care, why would he give you that note?"

May blinked. "Note?"

Ash blinked too. "May, don't tell me you didn't read the note?!"

"No, my hands were stinging too much to pick anything up."

"Because you were too busy dismantling whatever effort Drew's made to make up with you!" May frowned. Ash went on, "May, this is going to hurt, but you're being very immature about this whole thing. It was just a quarrel!"

"It wasn't, he said -" May stopped, incensed. "You're one to talk about maturity!"

"That may be, but you're acting like a spoilt little girl! An immature little child!"

May gasped.

"You are an immature little child."

It was what Drew had said to her too. Tears stung the corners of her eyes, but she fought them back. She would not cry. She was through with being pitiful, sobbing, immature little May. "I - I - you're just like him!" she shouted, and ran from the room.

"May, it won't resolve itself," Ash called after her.

She stopped when she was out in the garden. Maybe Ash was right. Maybe she and Drew just had to talk it over. But did he deserve it? After what he'd done to her?

But what had he done to her? Shouted a little? Said some things he didn't mean? And now, he probably felt terrible over it. She cursed to herself. "Drama queen," she muttered.

~ ~ ~

I paced around uneasily. Had she gotten my note? Did she hate me even more? Or had it worked after all? Was it all resolved? I highly doubted the latter. But I had decided not to let this go. I would find some way of talking to her and telling her how sorry I was. And not just for that - for everything, for all the times I had ever been horrible to her. I sighed. So cliché.

But unoriginal though it was, I truly was sorry. Hard to believe coming from someone like me, but I was.

I had to find May and talk this over with her, or else it would just fester and grow like an unclean cut. And it would be twice as painful for both of us.

Feeling, and not unjustly, like an idiot, I walked through the courtyard, the Pokémon Centre lobby and the front garden. "Ma-ay," I called. "Hey, May, where are you?"

~ ~ ~

"Ma-ay...hey, May, where are you?"

May's hands clenched into fists. Drew. Ash's words rang in her ears. Drew's echoed them.

"You're acting like a spoilt little girl!"

"You are an immature little child."

If that was true, did she have to stop? She could hide now, or just be nasty to Drew out of spite.

"There you are."

She jumped and whirled around. She opened her mouth and for a split second wanted to tell him to shove off, but nothing came out. Her mouth hung open for a second as she looked him up and down. He looked weary and miserable, which didn't suit him at all - after all, he was an obnoxious, conceited jerk. She closed her mouth quickly. Drew came a step closer. She stepped back.

"I wanted to talk to you."

May sighed and gave in. "Yes," she said quietly. "So did I."

~ ~ ~

"So did I," said May, to my surprise. I hadn't been expecting this. In fact, I was so taken aback I forgot what I had wanted to say. When I finally found my voice, all I said was, pathetically, "I'm sorry."

She looked at me intently and said nothing. She wasn't crying. I was glad of that. I don't know what I would have done if she'd sobbed.

I realised she was waiting for me to continue and I said, "I didn't mean what I said. You're not immature. And you're not a bad co-ordinator either. And...and I especially didn't mean...what I said about..."

"About us not being friends any more? You're right, it was an impulsive and childish thing to say."

Her voice was cold and hard. I looked at her. She looked back at me. I wanted her to smile like she had that morning.

I noticed her hands were covered in band-aids. "What the hell happened to your hands?" I exclaimed suddenly.

"I cut them on a rose about an hour ago."

"A...a rose?"

My heart sank.

"Yes, a rose. It was in an envelope. Addressed to me."

"I wonder who it was from."

"Don't be a smart-aleck," she said sharply. "You've done enough."

~ ~ ~

She regretted it as soon as she said it. Drew stepped backwards and seemed to recoil. But what he said was, "Yes. That's why I wanted to talk to you. Because this won't resolve itself."

"No. No, it won't."

"So, tell me," he said, and let the sentence hang.

So she told him. She told him exactly how she'd felt after he lost his temper at her, what had gone through her mind, how Ash had comforted her but also given her the cold truth, and how she had wondered who was really at fault. "And you didn't care then," she finished desperately, her voice shaking. "Why should you care now?" Her eyes shone with tears. The sun was setting overhead, painting the clouds orange and pink.

~ ~ ~

Tears sparkled in May's eyes. I felt even worse. This was what I had done to her. This was how much I'd crushed her. "But May," I said, "I didn't mean it. You know I didn't mean it."

"You sounded like you meant it."

I didn't know what to say. Somehow 'sorry' didn't seem quite enough for the situation.

"I thought you meant it..."

"But you can't take me too seriously. You know that. If you always took me seriously, we'd never have been friends in the first place. I was far too horrible to you."

She smiled sadly. "You're right about that," she said softly. "Something snapped. I'd had enough of being made fun of."

"It was my fault. I shouldn't have just exploded at you like that. I really didn't mean it."

"But...but...you sounded so angry. I thought I must have done something wrong. You really sounded like I had hurt you somehow."

I felt a pang. "May..."

"I didn't mean it either."

"What?"

"When I said I hated you. I don't hate you."

"Why not? You have no reason not to."

"That's not true."

"Yes, it is. Why don't you hate me?" I couldn't believe I was saying this. Not quite so arrogant any more.

"Because...because..." Her cheeks turned pink and she muttered something inaudible that sounded vaguely like, "iggywiggy".

Maybe I was just being the conceited jerk I am, but I understood. I smiled.