That One Smile

A/N: I wrote this for Contestshipping Day, but may not be able to post then, so happy (early) Contestshipping Day! I know I haven't uploaded in a while, but I promise to upload another chapter of 'Our Last Summer' or 'Five Seasons' soon!

That was it. The last contest before the Grand Festival, and May had lost. And to make it worse, her opponent happened to be none other than her long-time rival, Drew Hayden.

It was not typical of Drew to wait till the last moment to earn his fifth ribbon; that spot was usually taken by a certain brunette. Although May never intended for it to happen, things just came out that way.

A smirk automatically reached his lips, as both of them shook hands with each-other. He hadn't won a contest for a long time now, and defeating his all-time rival was one good way to start off before the Festival.

"You were good", she commented without facing him. "Well, of course I was", he responded in his cocky, Drew-like way, "You weren't half bad either." Immediately, her hand closed into a fist, as her head rose up to see him giving her a competitive, arrogant look. On seeing that, however, her anger melted to be replaced by pain.

Usually, those looks would give rise to her own competitive feelings, but this was different.

~

The contest was over and all the coordinators were either in the contest hall, or had already left. May was preparing to leave, when a beautiful red rose on the ground caught her attention. She picked it up, and in correspondence, received a, "You were fine."

That was it; she'd had enough. She threw the rose back at him, and shouted, "I DON'T NEED YOUR ROSE. JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!" With that, she stormed out of there.

Drew picked up the rose and looked at it puzzledly. That was the first time ever since their first meeting that she had ever lost her temper (like THIS) at him. They had known each-other for almost 7-8 years now, and giving roses was just an (interesting) add-on to his teasing remarks. No matter how annoying he got, she never denied roses from him, and he had not even pushed any buttons yet. Then what made her so upset? He opened his ribbon case and looked at his last ribbon again. He wasn't exactly sure about being happy about it now.

Wait.. Last ribbon. Last contest. He mentally smacked himself for not being able to understand that simple fact till now. That explained May's behaviour. Not being able to win, meant no entry for her in that year's Grand Festival, and his arrogance had made her even more upset.

Drew gazed at the rose in his hand and wondered for the first time in forever what he would do with it. They had had an epic battle and instead of giving her credit for it, he ended up making her feel incompetent and vulnerable. Drew half-wished that he had lost the match. Sure, he wouldn't have been able to participate in that year's Festival, but so what? Anything would have been better than the way he had acted towards her. And was she crying-?

Then it struck Drew. It wasn't too late to still run up to her and apologise. He, internally, explained himself that there was no chance that she would forgive him, but at the end, ran off to find her anyway.

She hadn't got too far. Walking slowly, and hair covering her face - these two signs of her sadness were clear enough to anyone who knew her well. Drew, of course, was no exception.

"May?", he called her gently from behind. She stopped.

No response.

"May?", he tried again. "I-I am sorry for shouting at you", came a cold, but apologetic, response. She almost choked up on her words.

"No, I am sorry. I shouldn't have acted like a jerk."

"It's fine." And then she left.

Drew stood there guiltily. She was usually so happy and cheerful, and now, she was miserable... all because of him. He knew it was wrong, but he decided to follow her.