Waves lapped at the shore, adding to the overall feeling of tranquility as she and her friends sat and talked, deeply engrossed in their conversation. Except...they weren't very calm anymore.

"C'mon. Just the first name!" Max pestered the blunette, wanting an answer. "Tell me his name!" He glared at her, trying to catch her eye, but she was staring firmly at the table, blushing.

"No, Max. It's none of your business who I like." Dawn muttered, swirling patterns on the table with her fingers. "Besides, you know this person-telling you would give it right away, and I'd be doomed for eternity." Max pouted as he heard this, still not willing to give up on his lead. Delia tried to start up a new conversation as Ash and Brock unsuccessfully tried to calm Max down.

"So, May, how's your mother doing? I haven't seen her in the longest time." Delia asked her somewhat desperately, trying to lay to rest the previous conversation for the sake of Dawn.
May shifted. "Uh, fine. Last I checked, she was setting up a fireworks shop in South Petalburg. She's using Beautifly to mix the fireworks."

"Good, that's nice to hear," The conversation went on as she and Delia tried unsuccessfully to capture Max's attention.

Finally, the brunette was beginning to lose her cool. Her brother didn't have any right to know who Dawn liked. How could he be so rude? "Max, stop it. That's rude. Why don't you talk about gym battles or something?" She blurted, instantly regretting her words. Dawn looked relieved, but Max turned and glared at her, his eyes shooting sparks.

"Gym battles? Ash just got his eighth badge, May. Gym battles for this region are over. Stop defending her and help me find out who she likes!" He shot to his feet angrily, turning to leave. Before grasping his tray, though, he looked up with a new expression on his face. "Wait. May, I don't even know who you like! During this whole journey, I've never heard you gossip about boys once. You obviously like someone, though. Tell me!" he was in her face, annoying as always. She blushed. She would not have her little brother embarrass her in front of her friends. Especially not in front of Dawn...no.

She quietly stood up and threw away her trash, neatly stacking her tray on top of the bin. Then she stormed out of the Cafe, leaving her friends behind. She kept walking until she met the wall separating the town from the beach, and stared across the ocean from the outlook. She lowered her head and sighed. This was not how she wanted her day to go. She was intrigued by the mention of Dawn liking someone, but didn't want to invade her privacy. She had no doubt it was some boy they had met-Kenny, or Nando, or maybe even Paul. Definitely not her. Dawn had never indicated that she could be bisexual, and since she had dated many boys before, she was definitely not lesbian. She stood there, letting her emotions boil out, and felt a light tap on her shoulder. Startled, she turned around, wondering if this was private property or what. Her eyes locked with the person, and her chest tightened. It was Dawn.

"Um, hi, May. I...I'm really sorry that I got you into this. I should've just told Max to shut up, you know, so he wouldn't go off on you like that." She sounded sincere, looking deeply into her eyes. May was mesmerized by the sapphire orbs, but then blushed and looked away.

"N-no problem. It's fine. He was being a selfish jerk, anyway, so he deserved it." She saw Dawn smile at this, nodding, responding with a "Yeah." They stood there in silence, and May couldn't help sneaking glances at the blunette. She hadn't noticed how much the girl had grown throughout their time traveling, and felt her cheeks grow warm at the sight of her curves.

It was awkward, just standing there, but nice, too. Peaceful. Dawn joined her at the wall and looked out at the ocean, her face unreadable. "I-I should probably tell you, you know," she shifted on her feet, glancing down. "Who I like."

May had forgotten about the previous conversation and felt guilty, pitying the blue-haired girl. "Um...If-if you want to, that's fine, but...you don't have to. You're not obligated to tell me just because I stood up for you. It was the right thing to do." Dawn smiled at this, and May could see her cheeks warm, probably from embarrassment. "But if you do, then I won't tell anyone. I promise."

Dawn surprised her by taking her hand lightly, and May blushed. She didn't move away. Dawn's hand felt soft and smooth in hers, and she immediently wanted nothing more than to protect her. The girl just stood there, holding her hand, before pulling away and taking a shaky breath. "Sorry. I guess I just...Um. I wanted to, er-th-the girl I like. I-I mean the person!" She freaked out, like she said something she wasn't supposed to, and May slowly digested her words. Girl. The girl I like, she said. May's eyes widened as she realized what this meant, and as she turned to face the blunette, she was met by her soft lips. Her eyes widened more as she stood there, unmoving, as Dawn began to kiss her. She felt her cheeks light up and her heart race as the girl pressed herself closer to May, entangling her hands in her hair and pressing her lips closer against hers. She felt something moist at her mouth, and realized it was Dawn's tongue. Without hesitation, May parted her lips to let the girl through, kissing her back gently and absentmindedly playing with Dawn's hair with her hands, entangling them in blue.

They stood there, completely consumed with each other, and kissed for minutes, hours, it was hard to tell. May shuddered as the girl's lips trailed down to her neck, making her part her lips to moan, but no sound emerged. She murmured Dawn's name in bliss as the girl proceeded to kiss her neck delicately, her hands holding her in place gently. Then the kissing ceased and Dawn, blushing hotly, pulled away from her. "I-I'm sorry. I got carried away, I..." she trailed off as May enclosed her with a hug, wrapping her arms around her and murmuring her name. May heard the girl sigh in pleasure and hug her back, rocking slowly back and forth on the dock. May felt both her own heart as well as Dawn's race, and she closed her eyes, lost in the moment.

"I love you, Dawn." Those four words that she had wanted to say for forever finally spilled out, and there, with the Dawn's arms around her and her arms around Dawn , it felt right.

"I love you, too, May."

They stood there, enveloped in each other, for only a second before they broke apart, smiling shyly. May offered her hand to the girl, and she took it without hesitation. Her hand felt warm and soft in hers, just as before. May smiled as they walked back towards the Cafe. Things had gone the best way possible. Nothing could have compared to being with Dawn so closely, so emotionally. She wanted to hug the girl again, but restrained herself. There was plenty of time for that later. They approached the Cafe, and a growing fear began to build in her chest. What would Max think? Brock? Ash's mom? Ash already knew that May liked Dawn, and was fine with it, but how would everyone else react to their relationship? She felt guilty and didn't know why. Before they turned the last corner, she stopped Dawn gently and looked deeply into her eyes, blushing all the while. "Um. Dawn...are-are we a couple? B-because I...I don't have a problem with that. I want, er, I want to be with you. Forever." She felt her cheeks flush, and knew she probably shouldn't have said all that. Being in a relationship is one thing. Being together forever was different. But as she stared into Dawn's blue eyes, she couldn't help but say it-she did want to be with her forever. Dawn let go of her hand and used it to gently brush the hair away from her eyes. She was blushing. "May...there's nothing I want more than to be with you forever. So...yes. If you want, then we're a couple. For forever." When she kissed her, May felt that her heart was going to melt right out of her body. Dawn pulled away gently, taking her hand again as they started walking. They bumped shoulders as they approached the Cafe, and neither of them could keep a smile off of their face. They didn't care what people thought. They were together, and nothing was going to change that.

As they approached the Cafe, they saw their friends waiting outside, talking on the phone. They hadn't seen them yet. Quickly, they dropped their hands, embarrassed, but still walked closely together. As they grew near, Brock hung up the phone and walked over to them with everyone else. "There you two are. Welcome back. Max has been sulking for the past hour or so, but other than that, things are great. I take it you haven't eaten dinner yet?" He asked, not noticing how close they were standing together. When they shook their heads, he nodded and went back to the phone. Ash and his mom were standing off to the side, trying to console Max. Ash glanced up and waved at them, smiling when he saw their positioning, like he knew what had happened, but didn't say anything. Delia smiled at them and was about to say something, but was interrupted by a very angry Max.

"Hey! It's about time you two showed up. You've been gone for, like, an hour. Or more. I bet you even told each other who you like, too!" He pouted, obviously resentful at them. They winced and awkwardly said hello to Max, not really sure what to say.

"Well," she heard Dawn say, "that's true. But it's probably best you didn't know. You would freak out." May watched as her brother's face turned from anger to disbelief.

"Me? Freak out? No way. Just tell me. Please?"

Dawn looked at her, asking for permission, and nodded slightly when she saw her face. "Well," she said again, a blush starting to form on her face. "Your sister is dating someone, for one." Max's eyes bulged, and as he was about to speak, she stopped him. "Two, this might come as a shock, but, uh..." she glanced at May nervously. "The person your sister is dating is me. We're dating." While Max was still absorbing this, Dawn leaned over and kissed her. Right one the lips. Then she ran over-with style, mind you-to the bathroom and shut the door.

"Um, uh..." Max was at a loss for words. Ash was smiling, looking happy for them, and Delia, although a little shocked, looked happy, too. May felt herself relax as she smiled nervously at them. Everything was going to be okay. Everything...

"Um, was that-" Brock's voice, coming from behind her. She turned. She saw Brock's surprised face, complete with an open mouth. His eyes widened, and his eyebrows raised.

"MAY IS A LESBIAN?!"

Yeah. Things went pretty downhill from there.