Pineapple Lips
Claire x Kai

Did you know that lips taste like fruits? Most of the girls I've kissed have always tasted like strawberry, some coconut, maybe one or two who tasted like mango. Always pleasant and sweet, but never exciting. Never something to hold on to.

The first time we kissed, I initiated it. It was the end of my second summer in Mineral Town since you'd arrived on the farm. We were standing at the dock and you were hopelessly wiping tears away from your eyes with the back of your small, calloused hand. You had tried so hard to hold them back; I could actually feel the sadness emanating from your pores.

"Hey, come on, Claire. I'll be back next summer. It'll come round right before you know it," I'd said in an effort to comfort you. I had to hold back my faint desire to say anything more.

"I know."

"So why're you crying then, huh?"

"Can't I be sad that one of my closest friends is deserting me for a year?" You smiled feebly through your tears, and your futile resilience in such a fragile state only endeared me to you more.

"Hey, hey. I'm not deserting you for a year. I'm deserting you for three seasons," I tried to joke, a mysterious force tugging on my heartstrings as I saw even more tears trickle down your cheeks.

You nodded dejectedly, not enough fight in you to come up with a comeback.

I tucked a tanned hand into my pocket, fingers rummaging to find what I then proceeded to slip into your own pocket.

"What's that?" You managed to mumble out as you violently wiped your face on your sleeve, in a hopeless last-ditch effort to regain your composure.

"Just a seashell I bought from the last town I visited," I shrugged, like it was nothing. "It's supposed to bring good luck or some crap. Don't break it with your man hands. Knowing you, I give it three or four days, tops."

"Shut up, Kai," you murmured, the faintest traces of a smile playing on the sides of your mouth.

"Last call for all passengers boarding the ferry!"

"That's me."

"Okay." You managed a small smile, but fresh tears were already forming at the edges of your eyes, threatening to spill over at any moment.

"Come on, quit crying. It's not a good look for you."

You nodded furiously, in a way that a child would if she too were scolded to stop crying but couldn't control her tears.

"Sir, you getting on the ferry?" The captain came up to me, obviously annoyed that we'd been on the dock since the first call and I still hadn't moved since then.

"Yeah, just give me a minute."

He sighed tiredly, ambling slowly back to the ferry. I watched to see that his back was turned.

I didn't know what it was that came over me. We were close friends, but never anything more up until that point. I took in the image of you, looking so childishly, girlishly vulnerable, in a state I'd never seen you in before. Your crying wasn't pretty at all, the way some girls manage to look prettier while crying. Your crying was the ugly, snotty kind that made your red nose leak, and your eyes were starting to swell from the amount of tears they were churning out. It was so ugly, so flawed, so faulted, but so real.

Now or never.

"See ya," I rushed out, before promptly proceeding to grab your waist in my arms, lifting you up and throwing my lips clumsily onto yours. You were shocked beyond belief, but you made no effort to push me away. Maybe you had no fight left in you after all the crying, or maybe you wanted to kiss me as well. Either way, it only lasted a few seconds, but the feeling of your blonde bangs brushing my forehead, your small hands grabbing onto my shoulders to prevent you from falling, your lips, warm from crying, pressing firmly against mine, remained imprinted on my body until the next summer.

I placed you back squarely on the ground, and pulling away from you felt like breaking two attracted magnets apart. I had to put all my willpower into pulling away from the force trying to draw me back to you. You stood bewildered, eyes wide in shock, red from crying. Your small, calloused hand rested on where my lips had just been.

"See ya," I repeated, flashing you a quick smile before turning and making my way to the ferry.

The captain was waiting by the edge of the ferry. "About time," he grumbled, but then proceeded to change his tone to one of understanding. "Girlfriend?" He asked, motioning towards your dazed figure on the dock.

"Just a friend," I replied laughingly.

"Sure didn't look like just a friend to me."

The second time we kissed, you initiated it.

It was the following summer, and my ferry had just reached the dock. The captain gave me a smile, obviously recalling the last time we'd been on this same dock. "There's your friend," he signaled, bringing my gaze over to your figure positioned on the same spot we'd stood last summer. Your skin had turned paler, and your hair had grown a little longer, but you still looked the same. Still the you that I'd kissed last summer.

In the past three seasons, I hadn't kissed any other girls.

The captain gave me a knowing nod before I disembarked the ship, trying to control myself from dropping my bags and running over to you.

'Screw it,' I thought, before promptly proceeding to do just that and tackling you into a hug, lifting your feet off the ground. You wrapped your arms around my neck, smiling so brightly that it seemed impossible that this same face had been the tearful one I'd witnessed last summer.

Your lips found mine, almost like it was instinctive. It was in that kiss that I finally realized what your lips tasted like; a question I'd been trying to answer for the past three seasons.

Pineapple.

And it was in that kiss that all the other kisses I'd ever had, all the strawberries, coconuts, mangoes, they all fused together to form a forgettable cocktail miasma. It was in that kiss that I realized I wanted to taste pineapple – no, needed – to taste pineapple for the rest of my life.

We broke apart, and I put you back down, and you asked, "is it alright that I kissed you?"

"Yeah," I said, but what I actually meant was yes, it was very alright that you kissed me, because in that second kiss, I realized that your pineapple lips were the only ones I could ever want for the rest of forever.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon or 'About Kissing'.

Author's Note: This is my try at writing some stories with happy endings (because if you've read my other stories, you'll realise most of them don't have happy endings). This will be a collection of oneshots, mostly featuring the female MCs, but if you'd like to request something I'd be happy to do it! As always, please review or follow if you want! I'd appreciate it!