Disclaimer: I don't own Harvest Moon DS.

A/N: OMG! This idea came to me after I saw Marlin's black heart event in HM:DS Cute! He was just too cute for his own good.

This chapter is unbeta'd so any errors are all my fault.

Kay, without further ado, enjoy the Marlin molestation.

But don't forget to review!

Marlin sighed as a knock sounded coming from the front door. He sat at the kitchen table, his half eaten meal in front of him and utensils still held in his hands. A quick glance at the clock told him it was almost noon, much too early for Vesta or Celia to be home from work.

The thought of ignoring the visitor and returning to his meal crossed his mind, but the insistent banging made him sigh louder and stand, a displeased frown on his face. He slinked toward the door, his posture hunched and his hands shoved deeply into his pockets.

"Alright, alright!" Marling groused, opening the door and glaring at the person on the other end. It was that new guy who had moved in recently. What was his name again? Jake? Jason? Whatever.

"Celia isn't here," he said, moving to slam the door in whatever-his-name-was face.

"W-wait!" the boy cried, making him pause. He let out a breath of relief, obviously happy that a door wasn't slammed in his face. Marlin raised an eyebrow. "Uh, I'm not here for Celia. Vesta either!" he added quickly.

By now Marlin was more than annoyed, he was staring at the blue-clothed farmer with a glare still firmly on his face, his fingers itching to just slam the door and forget the other boy ever existed. "If you're not here for either of them, then who are you here for? Me?" he asked, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

The boy looked nervous, looking at anything but him. Finally he just nodded, his head lowered.

"W-what? Why?" Marlin asked, seriously not having thought that he would be getting a visitor.

Without raising his head, the boy's hands, which had been behind his back, were extended, and grasped in his hands was a nicely wrapped blue package with a golden ribbon on top. "H-here. This is for you!"

Marlin stared, his eyes traveling from the wrapped package back to the blushing farmer who had his face averted. He didn't make a move to grasp the package.

"Is this a trick?" he growled. "Who put you up to this? Rock?" By now his attention was diverted completely from the boy before him and directed somewhere else entirely. "Why when I get my hands on that pretty boy wannabe--"

"No!" the boy cried -- seriously, what the hell was his name? "It… it is your birthday today isn't it?"

"Yes," Marlin agreed slowly, yet still making no move to take the present. "But how did you know that today was my birthday? You've only been here less than a month."

The boy blushed, once again looking anywhere but at him. "I-- I asked, Celia."

Frowning, Marlin thought back to all the times he had seen the boy at Vesta's farm. He knew that the boy and Celia would sometimes chat together, and during it she would giggle and cast glances at him when she thought he wasn't looking.

"Celia?" he asked, and the boy nodded. Well, if it indeed was Celia, she would never play a joke on him. It was with hesitation that he took the present from the boy's slightly shaking hands and just looked at it.

In his entire life, he could count on one hand the amount of times he had ever been given a birthday present.

"Go ahead," the boy said, looking at him almost eagerly. "Open it."

With one final glance at the brown-haired farmer he began unwrapping the blue-wrapped present slowly, almost reluctant to ruin the paper. Once the paper was removed he opened the brown box and his eyes went wide at what was inside.

"E-Elli Leaves…" he said slowly, in awe that someone had gotten him such a rare and expensive gift. It was a very rare flower that was said to hold great healing powers. He looked up at the boy before him and really looked at him.

The boy had brown hair that was hidden underneath a backwards blue cap, and his warm brown eyes were sparkling as they watched his reaction. A pleased smile was blooming on their face and they were dressed in slightly dirty blue overalls, their feet enclosed in black boots.

"Thank you," he managed to choke out, real sincerity in his voice.

Ever since he had moved to Forget-Me-Not Valley he had been sort of a loner. He was depressed over his illness and refused to socialize with any of the other citizens, instead choosing to stay in his bedroom and drown in his angst.

It had changed however, when Celia moved into the valley and began working on their farm. Somehow, the kind hearted girl had broken through his depression and allowed him to smile, if only a little.

He began to leave his room more and more, but he still refused to wander much farther outside of the farm. Sometimes, he'd go to the bar and get hammered, and sometimes he'd just go out into the wilderness to be alone. Even though he was getting out of the house, he still found that he was too withdrawn to make any real friends.

Sure, sometimes Vesta or Celia would wish him a happy birthday, but to him, they were family, so for someone to care enough about him to learn what he liked and give it to him on his birthday, he couldn't help but to feel touched.

"You're welcome," Jack replied, grinning.

They stood there in silence, awkwardness beginning to descend upon them. Marlin cleared his throat uncomfortably, not knowing what to do in situation such as these. "So, uh, you want to… come inside?"

The boy -- it was getting a little ridiculous to keep calling him that -- nodded and followed him inside the house.

Vesta and Celia had given him the day off and he had the entire house to himself. He had refused at first, not wanting to sit around all day doing nothing but Celia had insisted.

He led the guest into the kitchen, setting his present on the counter and returning to his now cold birthday meal.

Marlin looked at -- at-- it was on the tip of his tongue. Finally, he gave up and decided to just ask. "…What was your name again?"

"Jack," Jack said, looking a little hurt that he didn't even know him name.

Marlin frowned, feeling guilty himself that he had inadvertently hurt him with his callousness. He felt the need to make it up to him. "Uh, do you… want something to eat?"

Jack smiled but shook his head negative. "No thank you, I had a big breakfast."

Marlin nodded, once again lapsing into awkward silence. He finished his cold meal quickly, the only noise being the clinking of his utensil's on dishes. When he was finished, his rinsed it off and set it to dry.

He stood leaning against the counter and watched as his guest fidgeted nervously. What should he do next? Offer him some tea? Sighing, he shook his head. He was never any good at the whole socializing thing and it looked as if this proved it. "Maybe you should go home."

Jack looked up at him, a frown on his face. "Why?"

Marlin stared, wondering if the boy was serious. When he realized he was, he shoved his hands in his pockets and looked away. "Obviously you don't want to be here. Besides, I'm not very talkative and you'd just sit there, bored."

Smiling, Jack said, "I do want to be here, and it doesn't matter if you don't talk." Marlin looked at him weirdly and Jack just shrugged. "I'm happy to just spend time with you."

Marlin looked away again, this time for an entire different reason. A slow blush was working its way across his tanned cheeks and he'd be damned if he let the other boy see it. The only reason he was embarrassed was because he wasn't used to people saying things like that.

"Marlin," he heard Jack say. He could practically hear the little grin in the other's voice. "Are you blushing?"

His blush deepened, but he growled, hoping to play it off. "No! I'm just not used to people saying weird things to me!"

Jack chuckled and Marlin finally turned toward him, a glare on his face, but it fell away when he saw the expression on the other boys face. He was smiling softly, his brown eyes twinkling with amusement and an emotion Marlin couldn't quite recognize.

For some reason, the expression caused a weird feeling to erupt in his belly. "Wh-what's so funny?" he asked, his voice sounding surprisingly breathy and weak.

Jack stood from his seat and chuckled again, this time the sound making him shiver. He took a step forward and Marlin unconsciously tried to step back, only to realize that he was already against the counter. Another step forward and Marlin could see that Jack's eyes had darkened and the feeling in his stomach intensified.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Marlin asked when Jack was only a step away from him.

Finally pausing only inches away from him, Jack cocked his head to the side and smiled. "I have a question regarding part two of your birthday present."

"Part two?" he questioned so lowly it was almost a whisper.

Jack nodded and reached out with a hand to grab the curly cowlick on his forehead and twirled it around his finger. The finger released the tuft of hair and continued down, lightly grazing Marlin's cheek and making him shiver. Lower still the hand went, tracing down his neck and finally resting on the patch of skin his unbuttoned shirt revealed. "Do you… want part two?" Jack asked quietly, staring into his eyes.

Marlin nodded slowly, his mind cloudy while the places he had been touched felt as if they were on fire.

Before Marlin even knew what was going on, Jack grabbed his free hand and began pulling him towards the door. Shock cleared his foggy mind and he dug his heels into the floorboards, bringing them to a sudden halt. Jack turned, still holding his hand and a confused look on his face. "Why'd you stop?"

Marlin could only splutter incoherently, the past events leaving him dazed and confused. "But, you, back there, me, I mean-- huh?"

Jack laughed. "You're so cute when you speak gibberish!"

Scowling and blushing at the same time, Marlin tried to pull his hand back but the small boy had a surprisingly strong grip. Growling, he said, "You molested me!"

Eyebrow raised and lips pursed, Jack stared at him weirdly. "Did I? At first I wanted to play with your hair, then I just realized how smooth your skin looked, and then I just wanted to see if you were as muscled as you appeared. You were."

He was blushing again. He could feel it. Damn him and his weakness for compliments! "But what about 'part two'?"

"Well, if you would move you'd see!"

"But what is part two!"

"Ice-cream!"

Marlin stared. Surely he couldn't be serious. "What?"

Smiling, Jack squeezed his hand and Marlin once again tried to pull away but found that the boy had the grip of a freaking crab! "I'm going to take you out for ice-cream."

"No."

Jack faltered. "What?"

"I am not going out with you for ice-cream."

"Please?"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"No."

"Pretty please with sugar on top?"

"No."

"Uh, pretty please with sugar, nuts, sprinkles, chocolate sauce, bananas, and a cherry on top?"

Marlin stared. Damn. Now he had a craving for ice-cream. It was with great reluctance that he finally sighed and rolled his eyes. "Fine, but give me my hand back!"

Jack smiled and released his hand. "Come on then!"

With his hands shoved deeply in his pocket and a scowl on his face, Marlin followed. He didn't know exactly what Jack hoped to accomplish with this, and he hoped that it wouldn't bite him in the ass.

But as he watched Jack skip along, humming quietly to himself, Marlin had to shake his head. The boy seemed too… innocent. But he definitely knew that a little devil was hiding in there as well.

Inhaling the fresh air deeply Marlin allowed a small smile to cross his face.

Either way, he could already say that this was one of the happiest Spring Twenty-fourth's of his life.