Hello there! This is my first story for Harvest Moon, so I hope I didn't do too badly! I've been playing this game a lot lately for some reason, so I decided I might as well be productive and write something. Read and review, and be sure to enjoy!

REAL SUMMARY: After moving to Bluebell to escape her past, Lillian wants nothing more than to put on a smile and forget about her life in the city. With a smile on her face, she tells everyone that she's fine, that she's happy. There's only one person who isn't convinced by her practiced lies, a florist with cold green eyes. Cam sees the the truth, he sees past her mask and her lies. Cam doesn't want her to lie to him like she does everyone else. And in that moment, he swears he'll find the real Lillian, the one who isn't hiding behind a fake smile, and save her from herself. (I couldn't put this in due to character limit in the summary)

Note: Italics- thoughts/emphasis

Disclaimer: I don't own Harvest Moon: Tale Of Two Towns

Chapter One:

Introductions and Lousy Tour Guides

The sun shone brightly, and Lillian followed behind the kind old mayor, Rutger, as he led her into town, and she admired the flowers blooming along the stone path, their vibrant colored petals catching her eye. They were obviously well cared for, and she silently praised whoever had been taking such excellent care of them.

"You'll love it here, Lillian!" Rutger chirped, obviously excited by the idea of having a new resident. "It's much better than Konohana, you'll see."

Lillian nodded in reply, flashing a smile at the mayor. The smile may not be real, but no one cares if it's a lie or not. They don't want to see the truth.

On their way to town, Rutger explained everything she could possibly need to know. From the collapsed tunnel to the cooking festivals, the bad relationship between the two towns and any other possible information the mayor could think of to tell her.

They walked in town together in silence, and Lillian looked around, awestruck. It was nothing like her previous home in the city, and that's exactly what she wanted. No noisy people crowding the streets, no polluted air... Nothing like that.

But better yet, they couldn't find her here. She was safe, in this small, peaceful town of Bluebell. They couldn't find her here, she was safe. She would never be hurt again.

In her daze, Lillian didn't notice a girl with long blonde pigtails run up to her, and point, demanding to know who she is.

"Lillian, introduce yourself. And I'm sure Ash will show you around town." Rutger told her, before excusing himself to go to town hall.

Lillian looked at the small girl, who had placed her hands on her hips, waiting impatiently for an answer. "I'm Lillian, and I'm going to be living in that farm over there." She gestured to the area where she would be living, before giving a small smile at the girl.

"I'm Cheryl." The girl giggled, placing a hand on her cheek. "Aren't I adorable?" She didn't wait for a reply, as if she already knew that everyone would say yes. "Oh, you have to meet my big brother!"

Again, Cheryl did not wait before a reply before grabbing Lillian's hand and dragging her over to the house closest to where they were standing. 'Jessica's Livestock' the sign in the yard read, but Lillian didn't have any more time to study it before being pulled towards the barn behind the house.

"Brother!" Cheryl called, walking over to the fence.

A boy, around Lillian's age, popped his head out of the barn. "Yes, Cheryl..." Upon seeing a new face, he walked out of the barn and jumped over the fence -with ease, Lillian noted- and stared intensely at the stranger. Lillian felt a blush rise to her cheeks under the intensity of his gaze.

"Brother, this is Lillian!" She giggled again, before continuing. "She's gonna be living in the other farm from now on!"

Ash flashed his sister a smile, before looking back to Lillian and sticking out his hand. "It's clean, I promise." He joked, referring to the fact that he had just come out of a most likely dirty barn, and had probably been doing work.

Lillian took the offered hand, her own small, soft hand giving a firm shake to the larger, calloused hand. Ash looked almost surprised by strength she had put into the grip, before returning the firm shake wholeheartedly.

"Say, Lillian, have you seen the rest of town?"

The tawny haired girl simply shook her head. Ash offered a small smile, before his grin widened as an idea popped into his mind. "Then I'll show you around! Though I'm not much of a tour-guide..." He laughed, grabbing her hand and pulling her along. If the boy had seen her flinch at the sudden contact, he didn't show it.

"First stop, my best friend! He's really shy, and he can be a bit of a jerk, and he's really quiet too. He told me he only talks when he has something to say on the matter, otherwise he doesn't bother. But give him time and he'll warm up to you!"

As Ash prattled on with his explanation of his best friend, Lillian struggled not to yank her hand from his. When he had grabbed her hand, she had instantly wanted to pull away, to run and hide. But she couldn't, after all, who knows what the townspeople would think of her if she did. She continued to repeat the same thing in her head as he lead her closer to the stairs by Howard's Cafe. You're safe here, they aren't here. You don't have to be afraid. I'm safe...

"Cam!" Ash yelled, snapping Lillian away from her thoughts. "Cam!" Ash shouted again, and Lillian looked in the direction her impromptu tour-guide was, at a boy who was standing behind the counter of what looked like a flower shop, bouquet in hand as he focused his attention on tying the lilac ribbon around the bouquet instead of on his 'best friend', clearly trying to ignore the shouting in his direction.

Ash, obviously used to this treatment, only continued to yell his friends name, and when the two finally stopped in front of the counter, only then did the boy, Cam, place down the bouquet, averting his attention from the flowers and to his friend, and the new-comer who was standing behind him, staring intently at the ground.

"Cam!" Ash chirped, excited to share the news of the new resident with his friend. "Guess what?" Without waiting for the other boy to reply, he continued. "We have a new resident!"

Cam's face had a deadpan expression on his face, and Lillian looked up from the ground to stare at Ash, wondering if he always stated the obvious like that. "No really?" Cam asked, sarcasm lacing his tone.

Lillian felt her lips turn upwards at the florist's comment, and a small chuckle escaped her lips. Both boys turned their gazes towards her, and she immediately schooled her expression, looking towards the ground once more.

"Lillian... It's okay to laugh you know." Ash told her, turning to face her. "We're all friends here, so don't worry about it."

Lillian's grayish lilac eyes widened. She had forgotten... It was normal, to laugh. Where she had come from... Escaped from, it wasn't allowed. Any hint of a smile, any trace of laughter, was to be erased. She was punished for it. And here Ash was, smiling and laughing like the world was ending tomorrow, and calling her their friend. Since when had she become friend's with the two males? She wouldn't know. She had never had a... Friend before.

Looking up from the ground, she smiled at Ash, and at Cam too. Even though the boy had never said they were friends, he had never denied it either. But that smile you just showed was fake, wasn't it? It was a lie. You're lying to him. But then again, he's lying to you too. You're not his friend, you're not anyone's friend. He was simply being polite.

The smile Lillian had been wearing faltered at her thoughts, but she quickly plastered it back on her face. Ash didn't seem to notice, but she knew from the curious glint in Cam's eyes that he had.

The blonde farmer beamed at her, before turning back to Cam. "Cam, are you gonna continue to be that rude? Introduce yourself!" He scolded in a playful manner.

"I don't see why I have to, you've been shouting my name in her ears for the last five minutes..." He grumbled, before sighing and sticking out his hand at the short girl. "As you already know..." He glared at Ash, who just grinned sheepishly in reply, "I'm Cam. I own this flower stand here, so feel free to visit and buy some flowers or seeds."

Lillian chastised herself for hesitating so long before accepting the offered hand, and shaking it with her own. "I'm Lillian, I'll be living in that other farm down the road from here." She plastered a smile on her face. Cam's hands were much larger than her own, and his grip was strong.

Looking up, she saw his green eyes staring into her own. His eyes were green, but not just any old green. They were the green of the grass that finally grew after a harsh winter, the green of the leaves in summer. The color of sweetgrass in spring, pure and sweet. His eyes were two green pools of emotion, with pain and grief, loneliness and contentment, flickers of amusement swimming in them. In that moment, she realized that she could see past the cold, sarcastic mask he had on.

And sure enough, she found a blush spreading to her cheeks as she noticed the intensity of his gaze, and the amusement in his eyes shined brightly, and a smirk spread on his lips.

Meanwhile, Cam was lost in the gray lilac eyes, trying to identify all the different emotions her gaze held. There was so much sadness and lonliness, pain filling her expressive eyes to the brim. Why were there so many negative emotions? Innocence and love were swimming in her beautiful eyes, but they seemed drowned out by the heartbreak and insecurities.

And in that moment, she realized he could see past her mask too.

A few moments passed, and they were still gripping onto each other's hands, not focused on the handshake but instead on deciphering the emotions in each other's eyes. Ash, after noticing that his two friends didn't budge after he cleared his throat, trying to regain their attention, simply sighed, a small smile on his face after seeing the interest between his best friend and his new farming rival.

"Well, Cam, guess this means that you get to finish her tour." He clapped the florist on the shoulder, but the two still didn't break eye contact.

As Ash jumped down the steps, muttering to himself about how his mother was going to lecture him for skipping out on work, Cam and Lillian seemed to realize just how long they had been staring at each other, and both averted their gazes with a blush tinting their cheeks.

Hours later, Cam had finished the complete tour of Bluebell and it's residents, and Lillian laughed when she found out that Cam was a worse tour-guide than Ash, and they were now back at Howard's Cafe.

"Sorry about that..." Cam muttered with a blush on his face as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I don't really talk to anyone in town much besides Ash and Howard, so I probably wasn't really helpful..."

"No, it's fine. I enjoyed it, thank you very much for showing me around. Though it's a good thing you have your flower stand, you are a lousy tour-guide." Lillian's eyes twinkled with amusement, and Cam knew she was teasing him.

She seemed to have become more relaxed during these few hours they spent together, though she still wasn't being completely honest, and still had her mask on, and he knew that.

A few moments passed, and they spent it in companionable silence. Finally, Cam broke the silence, telling her that he had to go check in with Howard. As Cam moved past Lillian to walk towards the entry of the cafe, he stopped, and they were standing side by side, facing opposite directions.

And before Cam walked off again, him having only lingered for a moment, the last words he whispered to her echoed in her ears.

"Don't hide behind a fake smile like that."

The words were spoken coldly, but they sounded more... Sad than reprimanding. Almost as if he was disappointed.

She collapsed on her bed, just having finished unpacking. Thinking back to Cam's parting words, she scolded herself. Of course he knew she was faking. Was she not convincing enough? The other people in town had believed it quite easily... What made him so different? How did he know she was lying?

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, before opening her eyes and sitting up right with a jolt. She knew what she was going to do tomorrow, she was going to repair her mask, and be the Lillian people wanted her to be.

They wanted to see the happy, positive, smiling Lillian who was always willing to help out and always had a optimistic view about everything. And that's what she would give them.

They didn't want to see the real her. They didn't care about the real her. No one did. Tears filled her eyes, threatening to spill over. Reaching under her pillow, she pulled out a small wooden box. It was small, longer than it was wide, and she slid the lid off, as she had done a thousand times before, the old smooth wood feeling comfortable and familiar in her hand. Placing the lid on the bed, she removed the contents the box.

Between two fingers, a single piece of metal she held. It gleamed in the soft lamplight, and Lillian dropped it in her palm, savoring the feeling of the cold metal in her hand. Twirling the small blade again, she held it in her right hand. It was the tip of an old kitchen knife, about two inches long. She had had it for years... And this is what she used it for.

Pushing up her long pajama sleeve, she turned over her arm, the pale flesh that was marred with old and fresh scars alike, bruises that weren't from her hands, and she pressed the blade to her skin. Before dragging it along, a flash of Cam's eyes popped in her mind, and she briefly wondered why before she expelled the thought from her mind and dragged the blade along her skin, dark blood springing to the surface of her wound, dripping down her arm.

A sigh of release escaped her lips, and a small smile spread across her lips.

And as she made another wound and yet another, with each one her smile growing bigger, as tears raced down her cheeks, mixing with the red liquid, she couldn't help but mutter...

"My smile isn't fake now, Cam."

To Be Continued

Well, that was the first chapter, I know it wasn't a very good ending, but cut me some slack for now. The next chapter will be up soon! I hope you liked it, be sure to leave a review (I wanna know if it sucked or not) love you, and I'll update soon.