It didn't take very long for May to notice that Drew was being abnormally quiet. He had been like that when he woke up, and she just didn't quite understand why.

He had woken her up by shaking her and then immediately began eating his breakfast.

When she had asked of anything was wrong, he had responded with a simple 'I'm just fine.'

Now this had made May even more worried and more sure that something was bothering him. It wasn't his reassuring her that he was fine, it was, well, that he had said it so...

Straightforward.

No sarcastic 'aw... How sweet. The Airhead is worried about me.' No 'If anyone needs to be worried about something, it's you little miss clumsy.'

Not only was he not speaking, but his whole personality was off.

Drew finished putting away the cooking supplies before picking up his backpack. His brow furrowed. "Where's my jacket?" He questioned.

May held up said jacket. "And you aren't getting it back until you tell me what's wrong."

He simply stood there, mouth clamped shut. May pursed her lips. This wasn't getting anywhere. Drew was a stubborn passive-resister, and she wasn't going to give in either.

"Okay then. We're playing the guessing game. Did you get enough sleep last night?"

He shook his nodded.

"Was it... What happened right before we fell asleep?" She asked. She knew he knew what she was talking about.

It was when he had held her hand to comfort her in the storm.

He hesitated a moment before nodding.

May's expression didn't falter as her heart plummeted. Was Drew really that... embarrassed by that much physical contact with her?

He shyly rubbed his arms and kept his eyes on the ground. "I'm not exactly that comfortable with physical contact with others..."

May shrugged and a cheery grin appeared on her face. "That's fine!" She chirped.

He smirked, turning back to his usual self. "Well, we wouldn't want to miss the contest, so I say we get going. That is, unless you want to be left behind."

"DREW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

----------------------

"If we keep up this pace, we should be able to Make it to Violet City in time for lunch on Wednesday. By the way, it's Monday right now. The contest is on Saturday, so that'll only give us around two and a half days to train once we get into town," Drew informed his traveling companion, who he assumed didn't know.

"I already knew that, smarty pants," May said loudly.

"Sure. Then what is the day, or even month for that matter?" He quizzed.

"Um... August... 29th?" She guessed.

"September 2nd," he corrected. "Oh... Heh heh... Right," May replied. Drew rolled his eyes.

A silence came over them. Not a comfortable one, but not entirely awkward either. May guessed it was caused by the whole hand thing last night and Drew's hesitance this morning.

You know, come to think of it, Drew's actually a lot... more reserved than when we just saw each other at contests. He doesn't seem to talk about himself much, May observed.

Appeals and contests and such, sure. Just not himself.

Weird.

"Hey, Drew? Do you think we should stop for tonight? The sun's starting to go down and we still need to find a good place to camp..."

"Yeah. I guess your right," he agreed, still kind of out of it.

--------------------------

The dying fire crackled. "Drew? Are you sure that you're all right? I know you told me what was wrong, but... You're still a little off," May pondered.

"Oi. I already told you, Airhead, everything's okay. Quit worrying about it," he reassured.

The bond.

In the two or so weeks we had been traveling together, they had already started to form a weak bond that came with getting to know the other one a little better.

But with Drew acting so hesitant and held back around her... This had put a stress on that bond, hence the feeling off, they both realized at around the same time.

This was kinda my fault, Drew thought. I feel comfortable around May, but... Still...

To May's surprise, he got up from across the fire and sat next to her, their shoulders barely touching.

May glanced over in shock only to be met by his eyes. He smirked. "I'll admit. That one was probably me, he said, finally breaking the silence.

"A lot of drama over just one little thing..."

May raised one eyebrow. "Seriously? You call that drama?"

He nodded.

"You obviously have not spent much time around the species I like to call feminus, humanus. Trust me. That wouldn't even be considered MINOR drama," May told him. "Seriously, we're drama queens. You guys couldn't even comprehend the backstabbing plans some girls can come up with."

Drew over exaggerated rubbing his forehead. "I don't even want to know..."

May laughed. "Trust me, you don't."

Both relaxed as things started falling back in place.

Well that only took all day.

-----------------------

Oooookay... So there wasn't really any actual content...

Meh, oh well.