Platonic

Chapter 49: Back on the Road

Previously...

"I'm sorry, I'm only making this worse," he said guiltily. "I'll try not to make things harder for you,"

"I will always have feelings for you. Nothing you do is going to suppress them from existing," she said.

"I want you to be happy, and you're going to have to forget about me," he said ruefully.

"And that's something that I just can't do,"

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After a somewhat restless sleep that night, May and Drew headed off towards Ecruteak City, the location of their next contest. Things were finally back on track, but she felt like it was still off. Sure it seemed everything was fine from the surface, but the air around them was much heavier, weighed by guilt, romantic tension, and silence. It was as though the attraction between them was almost physical, crackling through the air creating sparks between them.

They were hyper aware of each other's presence and stolen glances were exchanged between the two of them. At one point, May stumbled over loose ground and her hand brushed against his. The contact made her skin buzz pleasantly and she forced more distance between them on the path. It was difficult to deal with, but she was holding onto the hope that the suffocating romantic tension and mutual attraction would fizzle down to a bearable level.

When they stopped to set up camp for the night, they let out all their Pokemon to mingle with each other for a while but also focused on training and brainstorming their next appeal for the contest.

Meanwhile Roserade and Venusaur were comparing the power of their attacks, a spark of friendly rivalry between the two grass types.

Skitty was chasing an unhappy Quilava around who would occasionally turn around and spit some small embers at its pursuer but Skitty paid no mind.

Absol was observing Glaceon intently who was trying to pick a friendly fight with him.

Butterfree, Beautifly, and Masquerain fluttered above, conversing with each other, with Masquerain quite close to Beautifly.

Flygon and Blaziken were practicing their flamethrowers while Wartortle extinguished any stray sparks with a water gun.

Their tents had been set up and she and Drew currently sat outside hers, watching their Pokemon as their conversation had died off a few minutes prior.

"So, you evolved Roselia, err, Roserade," she said nervously, trying to break the silence.

"Yeah, Roselia had been feeling down about the Goldenrod contest because she was the only one to faint. She decided that she wanted to evolve into Roserade, so I let her," He said as his eyes were trained on his main partner as she let out a powerful razor leaf.

"I see..." May trailed off. She watched his face as his expression turned hard to read. He looked like he was somewhat lost in thought and having a hard time. A minute or two of silence passed before he could say anything again.

"Is your mom still trying to get you to come home?" He asked curiously. His head tilted slightly to the side as he looked at her.

"She'll text me frequently asking how I'm doing and stuff, but as for why she doesn't like Johto, I don't know. I mean, she was born and raised here, I was born and spent most of my childhood here. It just doesn't make sense. After my Grandma on my mom's side died, we moved in quite a hurry. We stayed in Little Root Town for a little while before Dad got everything sorted at the gym and then we moved to Petalburg. I think it maybe brings up sad memories for her or something, but that doesn't really explain either." May rambled on, losing herself in thinking out loud towards the end.

"Hmm, I don't know," Drew just shrugged.

"We haven't seen anyone on my mom's side of the family since my Grandma's death. My mom has a sister but we haven't heard from her since then either, or if my mom has, she hasn't told us and we haven't seen her. I guess after my grandma died, my mom's family kind of fell apart. I don't know why I told you all of this," May said, the awkwardness between them had decreased, but it could have something to do with nighttime setting in and forcing a more quiet and intimate atmosphere.

"Sometimes it's good to get things off your chest, but as if I have any right to say that because I hid everything up until recently," he said. May turned to look at him. He was faced forward, his eyes hooded and somber. His jaw was clenched, as if he was holding something or himself back.

"Hypocrite," May teased lightly and Drew let out a soft chuckle. His hand tensed into a fist out of nowhere.

"What?" She asked. He tensed in a quick flinch. A small red blush dusted his cheeks.

"Sorry, it's just hard to hold myself back around you sometimes," he said as he tentatively caught a strand of her hair and twirled it in his fingers. She felt her heart clench nervously. Out of nowhere a sudden spark of frustration bubbled up for deep down which made May suddenly push Drew's hand back.

"Don't tease me like that," she said softly.

"Ah, right, sorry," he said his voice wavering slightly. "I wish things didn't have to be this way between us, I wish I could just live my life like this forever, without having to run from my past. We could truly be able to be something that way," he said longingly.

"It's irresponsible I know and it'll probably hurt more in the long run, but we still have time left. We could be together for a little bit. I don't want you to keep pulling me close and pushing me away, all hot and cold. I really like you Drew and this is hard on me too, but please just make up your mind. If you're going to keep sending mixed signals I'm just going to get confused," May said, getting teary eyed.

"You're right, I'm being selfish, I just don't know what to do with all these feelings building up inside," Drew said as he looked at his palms. "It feels like there are no right answers and I'm struggling to figure it all out,"

"You should take sometime to figure out what you really want then," May said as she stood up and dusted herself off. She retrieved her Pokemon before heading into her tent.

"Goodnight," she said but she wasn't sure if it even registered to him as he sat there lost in thought.

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-A/N-

Oh my gosh, I had no idea what to do for this chapter so it's a mess. Also I kept nodding off writing it so I'm sorry it's late! School has just been absolutely kicking me in the butt. I'm not having a good time at all recently. Anyways, I'm too tired to form anymore coherent thoughts right now so until next time!

YouDontKnowShipping