Of Reminiscing and Roses {Contestshipping}

Five

"Those waffles were delicious!" May licked the residual maple syrup from her lips, tasting the sugary sweet remains of the syrup. Dawn nodded her blunette head vigorously, having enjoyed it as much as May.

Brendan chuckled. "Glad you girls like it. Jubilife Delights is one of the best cafés in Jubilife."

May mentally stumbled. Jubilife Delights...the cafe Drew and her had eaten at two days ago.

Suddenly, the maple syrup didn't taste so sweet anymore.

"Hey May, you coming?" Dawn's tone was questioning as she whipped her head back to glance at May, who was lagging behind.

May shook her head. "Y-you go on ahead." Dawn raised an eyebrow skeptically before shrugging and following the boys out and back to the hotel.

And just as she thought it wasn't going to get any worse than it already was, guess who had to show up.

"Drew!" May was taken aback as the nineteen-year-old ambled into the café, hands in the pocket of his jeans.

Drew's emerald eyes were as mersmerizing as always, crystal clear and mysterious at the same time. May quickly pushed this thought away. Now was not the time to be thinking of his eyes, not when he was rapidly approaching her.

"So we meet again." A wry smile spread across his face. .

"Why is it always you?" May snapped, crossing her arms over her chest. "What do you want?"

"My, my, someone's in a bad mood today," he commented, eyes glinting with amusement. "As an answer for your second question, breakfast."

He then proceeded to sit himself down at the nearest table. May knew that if she wanted to escape, now was the time. But it was as if she was being pulled toward Drew by an unseen force. So, despite herself, she pulled out the chair opposite Drew's table and seated herself.

She rolled her eyes as he waved over a waitress and ordered toast, charming the dickens out of her in the process.

"Girlfriendless again?" She inquired, propping her elbow on the table.

"On a flight back to LaRousse." He answered casually, as if May had just asked him what the weather was like.

"You broke up with her?" May was mildly surprised, to say the least.

"She was getting a bit too annoying for my taste. Besides, there are plenty more girls who are clamoring to be mine, you know," He stated plainly.

May felt a twinge of annoyance. "You think every girl's got it bad for you, Drew Hayden? Think again. Stop being so high-and-mighty!" She said, her voice raising by several decibels. Several customers cast thinly veiled looks of disdain at her, but she was too frustrated to even care.

Drew was completely unperturbed. In fact, he was smirking, having gotten the opportunity to get on her nerves. May had a strong compulsion to wipe that smirk off his face. "Well, maybe not all girls, but most of them. Including you, I think," his voice was smooth.

"Why you-" May was cut off when he leaned across the table and put a finger to her lips, effectively silencing her. She flushed, a flush of red spreading across her high cheekbones. His face was just inches from hers.

"You talk far too much, May," he said, seemingly enjoying the torture he was causing her.

May made a muffled sound of protest, which he conveniently ignored completely.

He leaned in closer, an indecipherable gaze in his strangely magnetic emerald eyes. May felt goosebumps prickle her skin, as a shiver ran down her spine. He wasn't going to kiss her now, was he?

But he leaned in so close that their foreheads were touching, and emeralds clashed with sapphires. "Admit it, May," he said, voice a silver of a whisper, "you've still got it bad for me. And I'm still in love with you."

Her eyes flew open in brief surprise, but not before fluttering close as she felt her steady heartbeat turn into a frenzied, unsteady rhythm.

His lips met hers, as she vaguely felt his hand caress her cheek tenderly. It seemed like all feelings had abandoned her for the moment. She felt as if she was weightless, floating, like the cords of gravity that kept her roped to the ground had just been severed. Then to her own surprise, she kissed him back, with more fervor. Their lips moved together in perfect sync and her hands tangled in his hair for the first time in two years, as images burst like fireworks behind her closed eyelids, as vivid and saturated with colour as oil paintings. Them kissing on the couch, on sidewalks, in the dark corners of school corridors... She smiled, her lips still against his, blissfully unaware of her surroundings. Another face flashed at the back of her mind.

Brendan.

His name set a sick blaze of dread alight in May's stomach.

Oh, God.

She pulled away from Drew. What had she done? After all the kindness and patience Brendan had shown her, she had repaid him by cheating on him with Drew, of all people. It was inexcusable, she told herself. Standing up abruptly, she choked out a small, strangled goodbye and fled.
__________________________
"Oh hey, May! Just in time! Which dress should I wear for my date with Paul later?" Dawn's bright voice rang out instantaneously the moment May entered their shared hotel room. Dawn was holding up two dresses, one pink and one white, her expression filled with excitement. But in a moment, her expression slackened and immediately the dresses fell to the floor when Dawn caught sight of May, her eyes glimmering with unshed tears. Her pallor was ghostly, and her shaking hands were curled into fists.

"Sweetie, what's wrong?" Dawn asked, her slender eyebrows creased with worry. May could barely keep it together, her curled fists shaking uncontrollably. Her sapphire eyes wavered as she struggled to form a proper sentence in vain, disjointed words escaping her mouth against her will before trailing off into meaningless strands of words.

"I-Drew-we-" May's expression crumpled, shattered like a dam under too much pressure. She sank to her knees, folding in on herself. Her skinny frame shook violently as the tears began to fall, one by one, like the pieces of her broken heart.