For those who are new, this story with discuss a romantic relationship between two males. If you don't like romantic relationships between people of the same gender or you just flat-out hate the pairing of Ash with Cam, please don't read this. No couple-bashing now. :) No yaoi, just shounen-ai. That basically means… well… no sexytime for you. Sorry. ;3

Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon or Natsume or Marvelous Interactive Inc. or anything else except for a copy of the game Tale of Two Towns. Dammit though, I lost it somewhere in my room D:

"Er… hey, Cam?" a young farmer called out from the doorway, looking around Howard's Café. It wasn't like he even needed to knock anymore- his two best friends lived there and he accidentally called Howard "dad" more times than he could remember (or wanted to remember). No, Ash didn't need to knock. He barged right on into the house and walked over to Cam's room on the right of the staircase.

Today was a day like any other summer day- Laney baking a cake, Cam inside his room probably reading about flowers, and Mr. Howard chatting with Georgia in the restaurant. The girls and Howard all waved to Ash, and he grinned at them before walking right into Cam's room.

"Hey Cam! What are y-"

A head of brunette hair jolted upwards immediately, and the boy snapped the book in his hands shut. He didn't look so well- his emerald eyes had bags beneath them, he looked thinner than normal, his hair was disheveled, and his hands were trembling on the book. Ash squeaked at his sudden movement and began to slowly back away, towards the door of Cam's room. His friend hardly looked human.

"D-Dude? What are you- are you- what happen-"

"Don't run into my room without knocking first! I'm trying to take notes!" he screamed, spit flying from his mouth. He looked furious, with a red face and tears streaming down his cheeks. Ash had never in a million years seen his friend so terrible! Sure, Cam often got stomachaches, but even then he didn't look as sick as he did now. Ash cautiously walked over to his bed and sat down by his feet, picking at a piece of lint on the fuzzy blanket.

"I'm, uh, sorry for interrupting your note-taking time. Are you okay? You look like you haven't even slept in a whole week," Ash insulted him blatantly. Cam was his best friend in the whole world- he didn't need to give him white lies of compliments on his hair or ridiculous things that acquaintances said to one another. No, he could flat-out insult him, and Cam was usually always grateful for it in the long-run.

Cam sighed and put his book of flower notes back on the shelf next to the seventh one. Cam kept a huge running record of every single discovery he made about flowers, or even just funny things he would see in the yard as he grew flowers. He had filled so many notebooks, but Cam would never share his discoveries with anyone- not even Ash.

Naturally, Ash was curious as to what Cam could be taking note of indoors. How could Cam study flowers indoors? Ash didn't see any potted plants in his room at the moment or any flowers in vases. He gave Cam a strange look, but he didn't pester him any further. Ash had tried sneaking a peek at the books throughout the years, but every time he was about to open one Cam would stop him.

"I haven't slept for about three days," Cam whispered, legs folded and elbows leaning on his knees, eyes looking forward at his friend.

"W-What!? Why?" Ash spluttered. He felt rude, but he couldn't help but stare at his best friend's bags under his eyes that usually sparkled. Not only did he have bags, but he had bags on top of bags on top of bags. He looked terrible.

"Just… been thinking about someone…" he muttered, trying to hide his blushing face. He looked to his left out the window, focusing on the beautiful flowers outdoors blooming in the meadows. Ash looked surprised for a moment, but the shock slowly wore off. A grin began on his face, growing and growing until it stretched from ear-to-ear, looking as devious as ever. Ash pointed to the books on his shelf, and Cam's attention snapped up again.

"Those are diaries," Ash stated slowly, not even bothering to ask. He knew it was the truth- Cam was a sap, a complete and utter sap. He was even sappier than the sap that grew inside the sappy flowers he plucked that dripped with sap.

Cam was way too sappy.

"Yeah, they're diaries to record plants in."

Ash raised his eyebrows and leaned on the bookshelf. Cam jolted upright when he realized how close Ash's hand was to his collection of notebooks. He wouldn't dare, would he?

"Then you wouldn't mind if I learned about poinsettias, would you?" Ash asked, running a finger along the spine of the first book. Cam's breath caught in his throat, tears welled up in his emerald eyes, and his face was as red as the reddest rose. He wouldn't dare, Cam thought to himself. That line kept repeating and repeating in his mind, but somewhere deep down, he knew that wasn't true. Ash was curious, and he would do anything to embarrass his friend.

"I-If you'd like to know about poinsettias, just ask," Cam trembled, a single tear sliding down his right cheek. Ash smiled sadly at his friend and picked the last book on the shelf- the one that Cam had just put back minutes ago- and opened the cover of it.

"Here, let's read together," Ash whispered softly, much more gently. Cam took the opportunity to smack him across the face, but Ash sat down on Cam's left and flipped to the nearest entry pretending not to feel a thing. Cam's tears couldn't stop now- they were freely falling, and Ash looked over at his friend when he noticed a splash fall to the page.

"Hey, hey! Calm down Cam, it's not girly to have a diary or a journal or whatever you wanna call it. I am your best friend, right? So why can't I see it? I've been wondering for years!"

Cam's heart stopped. Years. Ash was wondering about those books for years? Cam had been wondering something for five and a half years, and he finally knew the answer. He wrote down the answer in his notebook… that was what he was afraid of Ash finding out about.

Ash was his best friend. He couldn't know what Cam had been wondering and how he found the answer. It would make things different between them, and they would probably never speak to each other ever again.

Cam was too tired to protest. He kept his secret a secret for two whole seasons, and he couldn't take it any longer. He was sick of hiding from his friend. If Ash didn't like him after reading the notebook, then Cam wouldn't want to be his friend anyway. A true friend wouldn't see him in a new light.

Ash flipped to the first entry but didn't start reading. He looked up at Cam first.

"Alright dude. If you're so nervous about me reading this then it must hold some really big secrets, so I'll tell you a few of mine in a mutual blackmail kind of deal."

At this, Cam laughed. He was incredibly drowsy and drunk off of insomnia, and it seemed like anything would make him laugh at this point. He looked at Ash, waiting to hear it.

"Alright, alright. So, one time… when I was really little, like three or something… I took one of my mom's bras and ran around the village wearing it on my head."

Cam blinked twice. Green met gray, and both of the boys burst out laughing.

"You're joking. Y-You have to be," Cam stammered, leaning back on his pillow in fits of giggles. Ash was laughing so hard that he was crying, and his face was totally red.

"No, I swear it! A-And then, I was a-all like, 'Save me, save me! My cow Bessie's gonna eat me since I look like a bug!"

At that, the two boys burst out laughing again, tears streaming down their faces.

Trying to calm down and keep a straight face, Ash looked down at the book and back at Cam. The florist was still snorting with laughter, but the adrenaline seemed to slow down and suddenly he was looking at the book in Ash's hands.

"Well… read it out loud but do it, uh, quietly. I-I don't want people to hear… and turn to the latest entry."

Cam's eyes turned sad almost immediately, a drastic change from ten seconds ago. Ash gave him a reassuring pat on the back, a quick smile, and looked down at the book. He was probably just bipolar from his lack of sleep. Ash turned to the last page that was written on and began to softly read it aloud.

"I haven't gotten sleep in three days, I feel like I'm going insane. I just… I love him so much, but he'll never return the feelings to me. It's a shame," Ash said aloud. He turned to Cam and raised an eyebrow, trying to make light of the situation. Cam was obviously talking about his father who left him, it had really taken a toll on his life. It affected him deeply, but he had a new family now- he had Mr. Howard and Laney and even Ash as a brother. It was really disappointing that his father didn't love him back.

"What are you, homo?" Ash asked without thinking, trying to make light of the entry. He laughed and looked at his best friend of already seven years, knowing that Cam was still sad over his father. Cam glared at him, angry tears streaming down his face. Ash gave Cam a small glance to the side.

It was as if time itself froze.

The boys sat, staring at each other for what felt like hours. Neither of them could blink, even Cam with his clouded eyes. Ash pressed his lips into a fine line on his face.

"…Oh."

Cam sighed and pointed to the last line of the journal entry.

"L-Look, just read that and leave."

Ash seemed mesmerized at Cam's bravery, but he looked down at the notebook. Was… Was his best friend really gay? Ash felt honored to be the first person to know, but at the same time, he felt uncomfortable being in the same room as Cam. However, he did as his friend told him to do- he read the line of the entry. He must have finished it literally just as Ash had walked in on him.

"But I don't think Ash will love me in the same way."

Ash couldn't even think. His brain had shut down to all thoughts, in or out. What just happened? The boys had been friends for years. Why was Ash so stunned by this? Shouldn't he always love his friend no matter what? Even more confusing, why didn't he notice his friend's infatuation before? Giving him free roses when there were "spares," spending all of his time with Ash even when Howard told him to be home by midnight… Why didn't Ash notice that all those times were more like dates than just hanging out?

Ash felt something streaming down his face. No… it couldn't be… All the days Ash wondered about himself, all of those tear-stained showers and sleepless nights doing one thing and one thing only: wondering.

Now, Ash had finally had an answer that came out of all of his pondering. He knew his sexual orientation.

He wasn't so sure he liked the result, and even worse, he might have even liked the guy that was sitting right next to him.

Two warm arms hugged his waist, both arms with light-brown hairs sticking out. Ash looked to his right only to find Cam's face inches from his.

Cam was disgusting. His face had stubble, his hair was tousled this way and that, his eyes were dull, and he reeked of body odor. Ash had no idea why he did what he did next.

Lips pressed together. A gap closed between two foreheads. Hands traveled up to the backs of necks.

"I love you."

"I… I love you too…"

Couldn't this describe any couple?

It's true, though. Any couple can press their lips together. Any couple can have their foreheads touch. Any couple can grab the back of each other's necks. Most of all, any two people can say, "I love you." X3

That's why I asked the little question at the end. It doesn't matter what two people are dating- anyone can say "I love you."

A fluffy oneshot trade with harvestmoonlovee, since we both sail the ships of AshxCam and CamxAsh! I appreciate reviews and faves and follows- whatever you have to offer. More importantly, I appreciate your time in reading this. Thank you :)

-flp28, over n out~

P.S. Don't forget to check out my friend harvestmoonlovee's AshxCam story, too!