A/N: And somehow, after seven months I have finally updated a story. Wow. Applause for me. And I really don't know how I managed to write this and I am deeply sorry if Cam seems out-of-character (a little bit) later in this chapter. And I am sorry for the errors and whatnots in here, or if this one simply does not make any sense because I've rewritten this one a lot of times and it's better to publish it and move on than procrastinate for two more months because I suddenly felt like this isn't adequate enough. (Hopefully it is). Plus I'm going to borrow the date scenes and shift it up a bit yeah.

Pairings: Phillip/Cam, a bit of Ash/Georgia and maybe Phillip/Laney if you squint. But more of the first pairing.

Warnings: Phillip being a hot idiot and maybe Cam being a bit of a schoolgirl. IDK if you squint anyway.

Special thanks to: numa numa waffless, Amaiyu, & MeltingScarlet for your reviews C: And to all who follow this story and placed it under their favorites.

Delicious Daisies

"Cam." Ash stood on the other side of the florist's counter, frowning at the different perfumes on display. He picked one up, sniffed and placed it back. He did the same on the other five (for the sixth time, Cam noted). His face was filled with utmost concentration as he continued to gaze intently at the different coloured bottles as Cam tied a ribbon around a finished bouquet.

"Do me a favor and try not to melt the bottles with your stare." Ah, the ribbon matches the flowers just perfectly. The brunette carefully placed it on the display behind him and pulled over a bucket of freshly bloomed white camellias.

The rancher looked up as if the other had said something in line of cannibalism, "Cam. I can't pick which perfume I should give to Georgia."

"She likes all of the perfumes here." The words were stated simply; like Ash should have known it before. Of course, Cam took pride that people would come from far and unknown places just for his flowers and skills with it. His perfumes could be compared to those that were advertised in the city. So despite his quiet attitude, he was quite proud of his work, taking some slight offense to those who think otherwise.

And with that, Ash slammed his hand on the table, startling Cam and almost making him cut a stalk too short, "That's it! I'm going to get all of your perfumes!"

The taller man raised his brow, placing the freshly trimmed white flowers on a clean sheet, "I'm not giving it to you for free."

"But Cam."

"You have to pay for them."

The blonde had both of his hands on the table, staring intently on the other, "I only have 150 gold in my pocket. Mother hasn't given me this week's allowance."

"You can barely afford making a perfume." There was certainly no tact in those words, but when Cam saw how it got Ash down, he sighed, trimming the third flower, "But I guess I can give you a discount. I'll try making something up with these Camellias."

"For real?" Blue eyes widened and Ash held his shoulders tight, startling the florist again and almost earning him a decapitated finger, "You really are my brother, Cam. I swear I'll repay you twice as much next time. I'll even try to fish something for whenever you find another stray cat to take care of."

Cam only sighed, trying to get the other's hands off, "It'll be something new so yes, I'll be expecting twice as much."

Ash immediately pouted, and let go of him, "Geez, you say it like I can save up as much as that in the next week."

"I'm running a business of course." The issue was going to be dropped soon, and Cam went back to trimming the flowers. The rancher did not bother to push as well; he knew him long enough that despite his cold words, the florist was one of the most patient and sensitive people in town. Towards him, personally, of course, they were best friends since their childhood. It was a bond not easily severed by a mere fight.

A chair was pulled up beside the stand and Ash took a seat, "Where did you even get those flowers anyway? I don't remember if I've seen them before in your shop."

There was silence from Cam after he had paused for a while in his trimming before resuming with a swift cut and moving on to the next camellia, "They're white camellias. Phillip found a bush-full of them last week. I refrain from getting them from the city since I'd probably use them all up in just a short bit."

"He did? Well, it's not that surprising. I mean, once he gets that request from the board over there he's sure to get it." The other had leaned back on the chair, both hands behind his head, "Cheryl really likes him because he keeps on catching the right cicadas for her."

"Hm." That was the only thing that came out from the florist's mouth at first, eyes still on his work, not bothering to correct the other that Cam did not actually request the rest of the flowers from Phillip, "I guess so. He's quite loud though."

Taking off his hat to ruffle his hair, Ash shrugged, "Yeah, he's a pretty happy person. But you can't find a guy like him who can do all the work that he does." The blond strands were fixed and the hat was put on again, "Running from his farm to the forest and to town. Even to Konohana! Man I'd be dead exhausted if I were him. Guess I'm just good as a rancher."

The trimming of stalks was almost done, and Cam took this opportunity to busy himself as the other talked, "I think you're a little better as a rancher, considering your experience and sole dedication to the job. He just has his effort divided into many parts since he takes on a lot of types of work." That earned him an appreciative smile from his best friend, though his attention was diverted from the topic when he pulled out a camellia from the bucket, blinking at what was around its stalk.

Just below the flower, a small blue ribbon was tied around it. He furrowed his brows, touching the velvet before looking at the stalk all over. Why did Philip place this on the flower? Perhaps this one bore some kind of significance, or he planned it as a gift. To whom? Now his mind was suddenly thinking of all the instances that could suggest that the farmer was fancying somebody. Phillip was quite an open person and shared most of his thoughts. If there was someone in town or in the neigbouring one that caught his attention, he would have shown some signs, right?

Cam immediately shook his head when he realized how ridiculous he was, thinking about those things. No, why should he bother? It wasn't his business so he would just have to save the flower for Phillip and give it to him later. He might ask him, he figured the farmer would open up if he wanted but he didn't mind if he wouldn't, anyway. Right? Right. With that, he placed the flower with the others, though the ribbon was kept and put them aside neatly and carefully.

He hadn't noticed Laney and Ash were talking now, nor the blonde's arrival just a while ago. The two were talking about Georgia, and the rancher couldn't stop the light blush on his cheeks. Though he may have realized he missed some things, he didn't bother to interrupt their conversation to greet Laney as she had already smiled at him. His attention was on making bouquets now, but he has devoted some of his hearing to listen to their conversation.

"So how's Cheryl going with Georgia?" the baker had taken a seat on a table, legs crossed, "She's a bit of a jealous sister, isn't she?"

Ash only shrugged, sighing but smiled nonetheless, "She still refuses to acknowledge her as my… soon-to-be girlfriend, but she behaves and likes playing with her and the horses."

"She's evaluating her if she's a potential threat to your attention on her."

"Everyone's a potential threat to my attention on her. Sometimes she'd get mad if I don't get to play with her because the animals want attention too. Mom would reprimand her though, so she keeps quiet."

Laney laughed, amused and her tone ringing, "But you still end up spending a lot of time with her after that so she won't cry."

"She's my sister!" the ginger exclaimed, slumping on the chair, "I can't help it especially if she starts sniffing and being all sulky. My chest aches whenever I see her like that." Another sigh and he folds his arms on his chest. Meanwhile, Cam had started to mix and match flowers, glancing once in a while at them just so they know he's still listening. Ash, on the other hand, had scooted nearer to Laney, leaning towards her a bit, "So… you seem to be waiting for Phillip."

Cam immediately looked up at them and his stare was longer than the ones he gave them earlier, and he was very thankful that neither of them noticed he was looking, or he would have looked away in a split second. He was more into Laney's reaction which was blushing and looking away.

"…What made you think of that?" She laughed softly yet awkwardly, folding her arms over her chest, "I'm not that interested in him. I just find him… energetic and sweet."

"Are you saying Cam and I are dull and unsweet?" Ash retorted playfully, "We're probably boring you out, huh?"

She shook her head and rolled her eyes, "You're being overly dramatic, Ash. I'm just saying… maybe I'm just intrigued by him. I mean, we don't get a lot of people suddenly moving in and being a major part of the town. I don't know…" A shrug and she sighs softly, "He definitely gets a lot of attention for just being… himself."

Finally deciding to join the conversation, Cam started to trim another set of flowers: white carnations, "You better not talk about that or he'd be more wary when he realizes the attention his sister and Georgia has for him is threatened." And that successfully made Laney laugh, this time out of happiness now the teasing was on Ash.

Ash grunted and straightened up on his chair, "Like hell I am! It's like you're saying I'm jealous of him. Geez." He folded his arms again and slumped back, half-glaring at the other man then huffed, "Cheryl still says she doesn't want to play with anyone else but me. And Georgia still visits me every day so like hell that's true. Phillip's just a great guy even mom likes him."

"You better watch out then."

The blond growled and frowned a little bit more, "You two can be excessively cruel at times."

"We're just kidding, Ashy. You know that." Laney waved her hand, crossing her legs. Her eyes turned to the florist, who was back to concentrating on his work, "How about you, Cam? You spend a lot more time with Phillip than we do. What do you think of him?"

Cam's hands stopped from moving when the question was addressed, his eyes blinking before his brows furrowed. He did spend more time with Phillip than his friends did since the farmer preferred to stay outside when he ate his dinner and waited for the other to fix his stall, or even helped, when he would end the business for the day. Sometimes they would talk, sometimes they did not. But it was a comfortable silence, up until Laney or Howard would come up. And the other would occasionally stop by the diner to say hello to everyone in the building, him included, obviously. The only times he would see Phillip with Laney or Ash was when he would have a lot of free time and help out at the ranch or just have a small conversation with the cooks. Otherwise, the regular work-filled days were started and ended with the ginger eating outside the café, accompanying Cam as he worked.

"Laney's right, you talk to him every day after he's back from work." Ash had relaxed again, lifting a leg on another chair to rest.

The brunette pursed his lips, and looked as if he was asked what he wished for like he was a contestant in Miss Harvest Goddess pageant, "He… eats a lot." Once the words were out, he had resumed his work as he spoke whatever he had in mind, "He's talkative sometimes, I assume when he feels like it, but not annoying enough and smiles quite as much too." Another pause, and he moved the trimmed flowers aside as to not mix them with the others that weren't cleaned off with their bad ends. He had pretty much gone on autopilot, letting the words slip through his lips without any secondary checking, "Helpful, obviously. Loud and energetic, reliable. He likes crunchy vegetables and beef. I think he's a drinker and perhaps a little attra-,"

He paused when he realized what he was about to say, shaking his head, devoting almost a hundred percent of his attention on the flowers in his hands and pushed away the thought of the word he was about to describe Phillip. It did take him a few moments before he realized he shouldn't have done that and left the other two hanging in the air for his complete answer; so he cleared his throat, "That's all I got of him from all the talks we have."

"Even if we meet every day? You make it sound like I'm a dull, static-thing of a person. Like some kind of really hyper drunkard." The three friends automatically turned their heads to the source of the well-known voice and paucity of care in his choice of words, especially with the term "static-thing", standing at the bottom of the steps. Phillip was beside Georgia, who was giggling as she waved and greeted them.

Speak of the devil and the devil will come.

And he definitely did, oh yes, with a smirk directed at the florist. Cam felt his stomach churn a bit and his heart race at the thought that the farmer had heard their conversation. Or most likely his last answer. Cursing himself for focusing his eyesight on his flowers and not his surroundings, he frowned and tried to go back to work. Why did he have to run his mouth; slipping out words that he never intended to say was a pitiful habit he had and tried to stop, but from what he could say in the most recent example of it, it wasn't going well. At least he knew how to keep his trap shut when he wanted it to.

…But wait, was he going to say Phillip was attractive?

He shook his head. He was thinking of this way too seriously. So what if he found him attractive? The other villagers probably had. It was a safe opinion and was almost a fact; he could also say that he also found his own looks quite charming. Once he told Ash that he was a decent-looking guy, even if the other seemed fairly disappointed in his description of him. What was the big deal of finding the farmer attractive?

Nothing. And that seemed to satisfy him, at least for the moment.

Apparently Georgia happened to be heading to the café to meet up with Ash (to the rancher's delight) but was met by Phillip along the way and then the two decided to just go there together. So to not upset the rancher anymore (even with the small protests and denials that no he isn't jealous, yes he does just pout whenever he feels like it), Georgia decided they take a walk and have a date in just by the stable, leaving Phillip to replace the rancher's position in the group.

"Done with work?" Laney seemed to be surprised by the ginger's appearance, but apparently had no move to show if she also felt embarrassed by their conversation, just like Cam. "I'll tell my dad that you're here so you can have your dinner."

Phillip, surprisingly, rose up his hand as if to stop her and shook his head, "No, no thank you, Laney. I'm already full." He slumped in a chair and stretched his arms and back, tilting his head from side to side and liking the crunchy sound and feeling that erupted, "Nori was cooking some rice bowls and all and gave me plenty of it after I gave her what she requested."

The look he got was definitely of surprise but was followed by laughs of Laney and of himself, "I should be worried that we've got competition but I think it'd be more disturbing if you still wanted to eat after saying that." She was about to stand up when their attentions were drawn by a booming, yet feminine-like voice from inside the café calling for Laney, "Oops, that means dad needs my help in the kitchen. I have to go now." Another chuckle escaped from her lips before she was waving at the two boys and disappearing through the doors of the building.

They were left alone with Phillip resting his head on his hand and Cam somehow entranced by the flower he most recently trimmed since he had not done anything since the arrival of the farmer. He definitely needed some time off and clear his mind. He felt that he was bothered by something. And how he worked in his daily needs was affected. While others may have not seen anything remarkable change in his behavior, he had noticed it.

For example: he seemed to forget how to function normally in his workplace while Phillip was staring at him.

He frowned deeply as he stared at the flowers, finally remembering that he was about to close the stall. Silence hung over the outside of the café as he finally went back to work, his heart beating a little too quickly than usual but he quickly dismissed it as his internal clock demanding his everyday routine to be done under the time he is used to. By this time he should have completely closed already, but it seems that he was quite hindered from accomplishing it.

The flowers on the table were gathered carefully and placed one by one as he counted them. Bent petals were fixed and the ones that made the flower look a little messy were plucked. A frown was stagnant on his face, half of which was out of concentration while the other from the unease he felt with the knowledge that Phillip was watching him carefully. He couldn't say that he hated being watched; the normal occurrence of it in his daily job was enough for him to shrug it off. But somehow the farmer's gaze had managed to get him to feel anxious and it felt like it was eating him from the inside.

Deciding to take a risk, he looked up to see if Phillip was really watching him but to his big dismay (or not), he wasn't. The farmer was rummaging through his rucksack; eyebrows furrowed as he frowned then took out his little pouch, fingers idly going through his gold before sighing and putting it back into his bag. Cam would have been amused if he wasn't feeling… off right now. Especially when he realized something he deemed as worse.

Did he feel anxious by being alone with Phillip?

That seemed to like a big nonsensical thought but the florist didn't feel anything particularly near to being eased by recognizing it. The farmer was a very nice friend who ate too much and somehow stayed outside the café (particularly whenever he's in work or closing the stall) quite frequently, and everyone almost felt comfortable with. Almost. And he's that exception and the cause of the presence of that "almost" in that sentence.

It was like Phillip wasn't all that he was. Not the man everyone thought he was. That was the feeling. And the brunette frowned even more.

He was down to his last few camellias when he felt the silky texture of the blue ribbon wrapped around the stalk of one of the flowers. Blinking, he held it up, turning it over and looking back at Phillip, who was yawning and didn't even bother to cover his mouth until the last few seconds.

Ah. That must be it.

"You were waiting for this?" He called out in his usual even tone (thankfully) and showed him the flower.

The ginger blinked at him, then at the item in his hand as if it suddenly became a complex puzzle, before grinning quite proudly, "You have it."

"Of course, it was with the other flowers you fetched for me."

"I thought you gave it away or something."

"It has a ribbon." Cam stated simply as he looked at the white flower. It was a little larger than the others; its corolla was comprised of four rows of large round petals bending outwardly while three smaller rows with at most seven petals cupped the small bud inside that hid its fertile whorls. Kind of like half of a ball; the petals looked incredibly neat and not one out of place. None of it showed any signs of drying out or wilting; the sepals were still healthy, not too thick nor thin. It was as if the Harvest Goddess blessed it with pure and longer life. No wonder Phillip separated it with a ribbon; it was undeniably beautiful. "Must be for someone special."

When the farmer only smiled and ran a hand through his hair, Cam held it out, expecting the other to take it. But he didn't, and instead stood up from his seat and tucked his hands into his pockets, "It's Thursday tomorrow."

Brown brows furrowed together and the florist frowned, "I'm well aware of that."

"So you have your day off."

"Yes. Why?"

Three, four, five steps towards the florist and the ginger stood right in front of him, the booth being the sole reason for their distance. A calloused hand gently pushed away the softer one holding the flower and Cam looked at him, even more confused. "At noon…" he started, blue eyes habitually looking up in thought, "Let's go out."

…

Usually, when Phillip woke up in the morning, he would stretch, yawn, sit up and get attacked by the slobbering wake up kiss his pup had prepared for him the moment his legs touched the floor for the first time in the day. Then he'd eat his breakfast (usually bread or soup, or whatever left-over he had from last night's dinner if he didn't eat at Howard's), feed Balto (his grey puppy) and Tiger (his fluffy tabby kitten), bathe and then start his work.

But this morning was different.

When he woke up, the first thing he did was panic when he noticed the bright rays of sunshine outside his window. And then he panicked even more when he checked the time. Two hours late. Well shit. The pets were fed, he bathed, dressed (almost forgot to put on socks though) and went on with his daily duties.

The chickens had created a large abstract mess of chicken fodder, hay and feathers in the coop. The barn animals moved too much and didn't coordinate with Phillip when he tried to wash them, or perhaps, it was the farmer's restlessness that bothered them. Maybe. Probably. Ash mentioned that one before, but right now, the ginger's mind was racing as he tried to sort things through.

Man, he hated this. He had too much to do today.

Once the animals were completely attended to and were grazing in the open field, he had started ploughing and planting new seeds in the free space in the land. And then he watered them, after which he started organizing the harvests and items he had inside his cart.

After making sure everything that was supposed to be done in the farm was done, Phillip spared himself from the torture of work and played with Raven. The little Husky was getting better at jumping and catching the ball and seemed to respond a bit more obediently when he ordered him to do some simple tricks. The pets were fed with treats and Tiger's fur was brushed, the feline purring and rubbing its head on his belly. The exhaustion had melted away and Phillip was whistling to himself as soon as he placed the kitten down.

It was then when he felt the trickle of sweat run down from his forehead to the side of his face then neck did he notice that the sun was at its highest in the day and that no clouds had the decency to cover the land from its blinding rays. The back of his shirt had stuck on his sweaty back as well as the collar and front. Sighing and feeling a bit uncomfortable and humid with the state of his clothing, he peeled it off, hand pulling the back of the collar as the fabric slipped smoothly off of him. The shirt was hung on one of the wooden fences after he wiped his body dry of sweat. Yet, it was not enough even when the wind felt very cool against his skin, and he jumped over the barrier (excusing himself from the chickens of course) and splashed himself with water.

Hell, that felt really great.

He smiled at the feeling, his body relaxing further as it was refreshed by the cool liquid. Once he deemed himself cool and clean enough, he started walking back to the house to get another shirt when Raven barked enthusiastically at something by the entrance. His tail was wagging rapidly, telling Phillip that it wasn't an intruder, at least. So he stepped away from the house to see who it was, and was surprised when he finally saw the bloke.

Cam stood in the path, in his usual purple outfit, green eyes wide as if he was caught red-handed of doing something he should not have done. But the thought was immediately changed when he caught a glint of pink on his cheeks and Phillip fought the urge to smirk and make a remark. Instead, he smiled politely and waved, "Afternoon, Cam. What brought you here?"

If the florist stayed cool and collected earlier, then this time he definitely looked embarrassed. His cheeks reddened even more and he looked away, chewing his lower lip.

Oh goddess, he looked fine.

"It's just… you said last night…" His voice was low and hesitant, and if Raven was still barking then Phillip would not have heard him. Or remember what he meant.

Well, shit.

Phillip blinked and groaned, running a hand through his already messy hair, "Oh fuck. Yeah, sorry Cam. I just woke up two hours late this morning and had a lot to do so I sorta forgot about it today."

"…I see."

"Just wait a moment. I'll just get a new shirt and we can go." He was about to continue his walk towards his house when the florist shook his head.

"You need not to if you're that busy." Cam frowned and sighed, "I can just leave-,"

That made the redhead turned his head with a furrowed brow and an incredulous look, "What? Cam, I invited you so I don't know why you're-"

Grrrkkklllll

The two men stopped, and Phillip felt his cheeks flare up and the emptiness of his stomach become more apparent. How he managed to do his usually heavy work with just water and little bits of bread was beyond him. But he was more concerned on Cam's expression, since he was just as surprised when he heard such a noise from his belly, "Shit."

Charming. Definitely charming for him to have his stomach grumble out loud in front of Cam. If this day could not get any worse or embarrassing, that would be really great.

When he expected for some kind negative reaction, like disgust or ugly laughter (if the florist is even capable of it), green eyes glinted with amusement and the corners of the brunet's lips twitched up, "Must every time we meet you have the need to eat?"

Phillip's brows lifted up in surprise at his answer, before smirking at his question and feeling the embarrassment die out. He had been in more compromising situations before, anyway.

"Can't help it if it's you."

..

Phillip washed up a bit and changed into more presentable clothes and the two of them walked into town. Bluebell's only café was the most obvious destination, and they decided to sit outside. There were a few people eating in the place; Diego and Enrique had just finished their meals and waved them goodbye before talking (shouting, since Phillip could still hear them clearly even when they were already by the fountain) in Spanish to each other. The town's (attractive) carpenter, Eileen, sat inside the diner along with some other unknown travelers who were busy shoving the freshly cooked food into their mouths.

Howard was definitely delighted when he saw and took the order of the two boys, pinching their cheeks before skipping back inside to cook the meals. One by one the people left, and the atmosphere of the place was back to being peaceful and quiet, even if Phillip's stomach was certainly not. He started feeling light-headed on the way here and was pretty thankful the clouds had decided to come out and cover the damning bright sun during their walk.

They were not speaking to each other unlike when they were walking while Phillip explained about the delay earlier that day, but it was still comfortable. The farmer knew better than to push conversation with the other when neither of them had anything to talk about. It was something he learned from people who did not favor talking over being quiet; silence was a lot more welcomed than a strained and forced conversation. Cam was looking somewhere, the cobblestone wall of the café perhaps, his eyes suggesting he was thinking deeply. The ginger forced himself to hide his smile when he realized how… pretty the florist looked at the moment.

Pretty. He nearly scoffed at his choice of words. Not that it was his own fault; there were definitely many things to describe a person's physique other than "pretty" (even if he was not sure what words), but "pretty" definitely suited Cam.

When he decided that he stared at the other man for too long, his attention shifted to the flowerbeds down by the smaller fountain. He blinked for a moment, actually surprised that he did not ever notice how the flowers were arranged. If he had a bad vision, the flowers looked like they formed some sort of gradient transitioning from white to pink to red then yellow. They were hundreds of little flowers covering the bed more than the leaves were and looked like they were very well-kept. It was really nice to look at, and Phillip silently wondered if he could do the same thing with the flowers back in the farm

…Nah. He was not much of an artisan; skills were easier rather than art, it did not matter if it looked nice or pretty, as long as it was neatly and properly done then he was pretty much satisfied with that.

His thoughts were cut short when Cam finally spoke up and blue eyes turned to see the florist looking at the same flower bed, "They're beautiful to look at, aren't they?" his eyes were soft, thoughtful and his lips were turned up into a small, relaxed smile. He was probably not aware that Phillip was staring at him, because his smile grew without any notice, "Rose is the one who takes care of the flowers over there. She's really great at it and I don't think I have found anyone else who could make flowers look so perfect like she does."

The ginger had to remind himself that telling Cam out of the blue that he looked really beautiful when he was like that was not a very wise and intelligent move. So he distracted himself from the view before his impulsiveness got the better out of him, "You meet up with other florists a lot?"

"I did. I left Bluebell for a couple of years to study in the city. There I talked with lots of florists, traders with foreign flowers and plants that you never thought of seeing. But I don't think they could ever compare to the ones Rose takes care of."

Phillip swore to himself he needed to see the florist like this more often. He did not look serious, uptight and tired; relaxed, happy and just… nice to look at. But since staring at the other at the level of their relationship was not really appropriate, the flowers got his attention again, "You really look up to her, huh?"

The other nodded, eyes not moving away from the flowers, "She was like a mother to me, so yes."

Before Cam answered though, Howard had walked through the front door and caught Phillip's attention at the earliest scent of his freshly cooked pork chops. The farmer had completely turned towards the meal, heart and stomach jumping in joy while the man sitting across him was still gazing at the flowerbed.

"…What do you think about the flowers right now?" Cam had wondered out loudly, definitely lost in whatever thought he was.

The farmer was definitely not paying attention, but he heard the question but somehow the words came in an entirely different way in his brain as he stared at the food that was getting nearer and nearer. And that prompted him to answer at the very word stuck on his brain. "…Delicious."

That seemed to snap the florist out of his thinking daze to shoot an incredulous and confused look at the taller man, "What?"

"Oh, you two look so cute right now." Howard giggled as he placed the meals in front of them before Cam could demand an explanation.

The ginger must have understood the mixed-up message he had sent when he stupidly replied with "delicious". If he was not used to this kind of blunders, he might have hit himself for it, but since he was not, he just flashed Cam a sheepish smile and shrugged, gesturing to the food.

Cam stared at him with an unreadable expression, his cheeks looking warmer than usual before he chewed on his lip (probably out of habit but that didn't mean it did not look attractive to Phillip) and sighed, accepting that it was not Phillip's fault that he suddenly answered with that.

Howard, on the other hand, couldn't help but fawn over as he held the empty tray after placing Cam's order and their drink unto the table, "Have a sweet date, you young handsome rascals."

That definitely changed the two men's expressions, Phillip out of silent amusement and Cam from denial. The brunet frowned as the blush on his cheeks became a bit more apparent while he stared at the food and took a deep breath, "This isn't a date." His voice was low and sort of hesitant, quiet enough to tell the other that the mere idea of this being a date seemed to make him uncomfortable.

But the chef had already walked through the door, leaving him alone with Phillip who had started to munch down on the meal with big bites, devoting his full concentration on filling his stomach that was the reason for his little embarrassment in front of Cam. And so the florist started eating his own meal, slowly compared to the speed the other man was feasting on his.

Soon, Phillip had cleaned his plate spotless and was drinking his glass of iced tea while the brunet was finishing his last two pieces of fish. Satisfaction could be visibly seen from the farmer as he patted his stomach and slumped back on the chair; the exhaustion he felt earlier was washed away and he was now starting to feel a bit sleepy due to the feeling of fullness and the lazy afternoon sun. And at the moment, he busied himself again in watching Cam before sipping on his drink.

"How long did you stay in the city?"

Green eyes looked up in mild surprise at the question, "Oh. A few years for college. I would visit in the summer back then, but I also had a part time job so I could only stay here for about two or three weeks."

"Really? What'd you take?"

"Plant biology. I worked at a flower shop when I was not at school, sometimes the owner would let me in their botanical garden."

Phillip smiled, placing his glass down on the table, "No wonder you're such a genius in your trade. If you were going to work in the city, you'd probably have the other shops closing down."

A smile happened on Cam's face as well and he shook his head, "The city's too crowded. It's bad for the plants, with the pollution and everything that comes with it. We had to keep the flowers in refrigerators to keep them fresh." He chuckled softly, "Not that it's overall bad. The company sometimes is interesting; plus they have very good stocks on flowers that you don't usually see in the countryside or in Konohana. Though… I would rather stay here. Peaceful and quiet and not much of a travel if you were a city folk looking for some fresh wild flowers made up into a bouquet."

"Yeah, guess so." The ginger shrugged, stretching his arms, "Was a city boy as well, obviously. It did not take me too long to end up injured in the middle of a forest in the mountain between the two villages." That earned him a laugh from the other man, "I get you. The city gets a little stuffy when you stay there too long, believe me. That's why I like it here. The place is large enough to get lost in, no pollution, no crowds pushing you whenever you want to get something from a grocery store, really polite folks. Almost everything you can imagine in a peaceful life. Except for all the girls you can date and all."

The florist took a bite from his last fish, brow rising at the last sentence, "I assume you dated a lot?"

A toothy grin answered him and the farmer snickered, shoulders shaking as he tried to control the volume of his laugh. He was aware he had a tendency to bark out his laughter, and he was still trying to accustom himself to the fact that the whole village could hear his voice if he spoke loud enough. "You say that like it's a bad thing." Cam's expression changed into a more… unreadable one before he continued, "Nah, dated. But not a lot. Though, you could say the ladies had a thing for me."

There was silence as he stared at the farmer before looking down, "I guess you're right." He had turned his attention to his iced tea, sipping a bit of the drink. His eyes were suddenly distant, thoughtful again, and it did not look like he was looking at anything at all, "I bet they really liked kissing you."

And that earned him a raised brow courtesy of Phillip himself, silently inquiring what had led to that conclusion.

In turn, Cam had blushed when he realized he ran his mouth again as he lost himself in thought, eyes immediately looking away after sneaking a glance at Phillip as he tried to come up with an excuse. A definite fail, because when he opened his mouth nothing came out and somehow, the glass of iced tea had not melted from his undivided gaze.

Phillip must have felt his discomfort and crossed his arms, acting like the question was nothing out of the ordinary. It sort of relieved some tension from Cam, but the way the ginger was looking at him did not make it any easier for him to look back up to him. That was just a small conclusion as his mind automatically weighed the different situations Phillip would be in the city, particularly in dating. He was a tall, good-looking (an honest observation), hard-working, nice, enthusiastic and well-built young man. It was not a hard thing to conclude that many would have gotten interested in him. He knew how to talk, to impress and to make the girls fall for him. Laney was an obvious example and he was sure Georgia could have had her eyes on him for a while before Ash had confessed to her.

And when there was dating, there was going to be kissing. Then maybe, perhaps, (Cam did not dare to think the specifics and details), more. With all of the facts just presented and what modern dating was, he came to that conclusion. That was it. Nothing else.

"Well… I guess so?" Phillip was now laughing, "Apparently, whenever I impress them on the first date."

Cam relaxed visibly when he heard the answer in a light-hearted manner, the usual tone, from the other. He would not know what to do if ever the other proceeded to be suspicious of him.

"So how about you? I bet the ladies liked kissing you as well."

"I don't-," Dear Goddess. He swore that if he started to run his mouth and suddenly admit something he did not want others to know yet he was going to hang himself with one of the ribbons in his stall. Particularly to someone he was not sure of how he would take such… topics. Phillip was more and more showing how… straight he was. And to immediately correct him that no, ladies did not like kissing him because he never thought of kissing one, had a very big risk of having a death sentence. A voluntary one, anyway.

"…I don't kiss anyone on the first date." The words were said carefully and Phillip must have gotten distracted since he did not seem to have noticed that he was hesitating as he thought out the words before each of them left his lips.

But it seemed to have amused the farmer, and he nodded and shrugged, "I see. You're the hard-to-get type; ladies like that as well."

Cam was proud that he finally had his lips under control before he could open his mouth to say something he did not ever mean to at all, well at least at that moment anyway. He just settled with a small frown, in which the farmer must have mistaken for an annoyed one and a silent dismissal of the topic because he chuckled and started fixing the dishes up. The brunet followed suit with his own plates, feeling a small amount of awkwardness grow between the two of them. Phillip was whistling quietly, and he was avoiding looking at the farmer.

He did not know why, but somehow, Cam suddenly felt… insecure; like it was his fault the conversation died. It was not the first time this happened though. "Talkative" was never a word that commonly associated with someone like him. Many instances of him ending a conversation with his silence usually happened when he was working, falling deeply into his thoughts, or just simply contemplating whether or not to answer, if it was for the greater good, until he would decide not to. It was a little troublesome especially with Ash and Howard; though his best friend understood him most of the time and just closed his mouth whenever he felt like Cam did not need to be bothered. At that moment, it was none of those reasons and was because could not reply to it. He did not know how to react, whether if he should just go along and agree that yes, ladies seem to fancy him or contradict Phillip and somehow admit something he could not even say to his two closest best friends.

But somehow, Phillip managed to break the silence when he was finished stacking their plates neatly. Blue eyes looked up to the sky and he clicked his tongue, lips drawing a frown, "Man, it's going to rain later."

Cam raised his gaze up as well and saw the grey clouds slowly creeping nearer to the mountain, making a sudden contrast between the clear blue sky they were about to cover. They were still far away and wouldn't bring any kind of precipitation for the next few hours, though, he silently mused. But Phillip did leave his animals outside when they left; he was not sure if his pup and kitten were already trained enough to bring the livestock back into the barns.

A sigh came out from Phillip and he stood up, lifting the plates with him, "C'mon, let's get these inside so Howard won't have to come out and ask the whole town if we enjoyed his food."

The glasses and utensils were held by the florist as he nodded, "Alright." And he was very much thankful that the silence ended, no matter how often he was acquainted by it. The atmosphere had lightened up a little, especially when the other started whistling again. Though, they weren't able to actually bring the dishes inside, because Laney had insisted she be the one to bring them once they entered the door. They were still customers, even if Cam had helped out countless of times before. But since he was with Phillip and on a day-off, café work was not open to him at the time. Not especially when Howard had to mention out loud that Cam should not work in the middle of a date. At least his daughter just laughed it off as a joke with Phillip.

The clouds were creeping closer and closer when they walked down the staircase from the diner. The florist was quiet, but it did not seem to bother the farmer though, bringing back the usual, comfortable silence between them. But Phillip had suddenly stopped before they could start their way to the lower part of the town, making Cam halt in his steps.

Phillip furrowed his eyebrows as he moved closer to the flower bed they were looking at earlier before blinking, "…Those are daisies, right?"

Not needing to take a closer look, Cam followed his gaze and nodded, "Yes, they are. In the open field you would find it quite messy; the different colors side by side with each other. But somehow, Rose managed to arrange them in that order, and they just look lovely." A small smile played his lips, just a small, thoughtful upward twitch on the corners.

"Damn, I don't think I could even manage taking care of the crops back in the farm. Much less arrange them to look as presentable as this."

"I thought the same when I was younger, but just a little bit of effort and I got there. I'm not as good as Rose yet when taking care of flowers like these though. She is much more skilled, more experienced."

"You make it sound like Rose is a goddess, you know."

Cam stopped and blinked at Phillip, who was busy looking at the flowers quite seriously, before correcting, "I praise her for her skills, but I do not intend on idolizing her."

That made the farmer turn to look at him in mild surprise for several seconds and then snickered at the confused expression on the other's face, "I didn't mean that like that at all, Cam." He waited until the laughter in his chest subsided and shrugged, "I just thought at how great you are in your field. Like, no one else in the village, except for Rose of course, can do what you can do. People travel for hours or so just to get your services and flowers and you travel every Monday to keep the business up and your skills sharp. Damn, I could just lay some bunch of random flowers I picked up in the forest and you'll probably turn it into something people would pay hundreds of gold for. And the thought of you thinking you're not enough or close to how Rose does those things makes it look like she's a goddess at it. You're already up there, Cam. And by how you praise Rose, it's like you've put her to heaven."

The florist did not know how to respond. He had been complimented, told that his skills was incomparable and just praised many times in his work before. But to be commended in detail like that was rare. He was not a talkative person; the acclaim would be short and dismissed after a few seconds and will be brought up some unexplainable time later. Others would give compliments to get on his good side; he was a businessman as well, after all. But to be praised out of the blue when he was putting the honest limelight on others was… new. It felt nice, and telling from the look on Phillip's eyes, it was genuine. He was not making fun, nor teasing him. He might have wished he was, or he could have blamed the light, warm feeling in his chest on something else.

He felt like smiling, but he did not give in and shook his head after a while, "I am not… up there, like you say I am. I still have a lot to learn, to try. I've met a lot of other florists who are better than me, it's just I'm here, and they're not. They're in someplace else where they get to do many things, see more inspiration, get more limelight. They get praised more than I do; they're up there not me."

"You're a lot more modest today." Phillip chuckled, "Usually, when someone compliments you, you agree."

At that moment, the attempt to not smile was a failure. Cam chuckled as well and shook his head; he was just being honest, not modest. He knew he was good… just not good enough as others are. But putting himself down was not a good thing, especially now. He knew that too, comparing himself with others was unavoidable, yet he could still do a lot more things that worth real compliments so that was that. "You might not get me like this any time soon, though. If you're going to keep that up my head would be too large to carry around."

They both laughed, the florist a little quieter than the other. However, it was Phillip who stopped first and shook his head, "I bet you wouldn't like it up there though."

"Oh? Why wouldn't I?"

"Because," he gestured to the daisies in front of them and shrugged, "Flowers grow on the ground, not up there."

Cam paused for a moment before chuckling, "You have a point. It's better down here or I would not be able to look at the daisies and admire them."

The ginger nodded, "Yeah. You couldn't count how many petals it has." He looked at the flowers closely, stepping toward it for a moment before looking back at him, "How many petals does a daisy have?"

"Well," Cam followed suit and stood beside him, "it ranges from thirty to fifty-four, but you'll find most of the flowers having around forty petals."

Phillip whistled, "That's a lot."

"I know. My teacher once told me that the daisy has so many petals, and if you would give it to the person you admire it would mean that they have as much virtues as the daisy has petals."

"Really? I thought it was like, love or something. You know, the ones you see on the telly where women pluck the petals one by on to tell if someone loves them or not."

Nimble fingers reached up to a white daisy, and Cam hummed, "Flower language is very… broad. For me, it all depends on who gives it. Back in the time, if you gave someone a daisy, it meant you promise to keep a secret you know about a person. For others, it means innocence or loyal love." He touched the petals, lightly brushing the tips of his fingers across the velvet surface, "But I like to stick on the interpretation my teacher placed on daisies. It is a lot more specific than basing it on their colors."

Phillip only nodded and stayed quiet as Cam gently played with the daisy he reached for. Though, the playing soon became studying and the florist started to look at the flower closely, then at the sepals behind it, the stem, the leaves and reached for another flower: a red one. The farmer took note of the other's movements as he somehow fell back into the realms of his thought and mind before looking back at the whole bunch, "Do you think that it's okay to get one?"

Green eyes turned to him in silent question.

"You know. Pluck one. Just one daisy."

Cam went back to the red daisy and shrugged, "I don't think Rose would notice or mind."

"Cool. Well I'll- oh shit." The curse got the florist to look at Phillip again, who seemed frustrated as he looked at the clock at the town hall, "It's already two?"

He turned to look at the clock as well and saw that the shorter hand was pointing at two and longer one just past the number one, "Do you need to go?"

A frustrated grunt and the farmer sighed, "Have to do a request due tomorrow. For the panda guy. It's not going to be good if I'll stay up all night in the forest looking for nice rocks. Plus it's going to rain as well." He gestured at the clouds which were warning them that the ground was not going to be dry any time soon anymore. Then he reached up, hand ready to pull when he hesitated at a yellow daisy before plucking a pink one. Before Cam could ask about the flower, the had stepped towards him and leaned over.

And within half a second, the florist froze, like ice, when he felt chapped lips on his soft ones.

The move was so sudden that the only thing Cam could do up to the second when Phillip pulled back was widen his eyes. His whole body was paralyzed and he felt his face glow with warmth when he realized what just happened.

…They kissed.

He still could not do anything even when the other had waved and started walking away, and he figured his big green eyes showed a lot of confusion that Phillip had to explain, "You said that you don't kiss on the first date."

…Did he say that? He wasn't sure. He couldn't remember anything clearly. But if he did, then why?

"And you told Howard this was not a date."

It seemed like his eyes still could widen and his face redden a bit more, because they did when Cam finally realized it. So it was sort of his fault? How?

Nothing made any sense from the moment their lips touched, and Cam was just frozen on the spot, confused, embarrassed and numb as he watched Phillip run and wave at him.

"Thanks for the lunch by the way. I really have to work now. Sorry we couldn't spend more time together." And with just that, the farmer, who kissed him out of the blue like it was nothing out of the ordinary, disappeared behind the trees, leaving him in shock and confused.

Minutes, maybe three, Cam did not know really the time that had passed before he realized he was holding something.

The pink daisy.

He could only shake his head and frown as he turned the flower in his fingers. He did not know when Phillip had placed it in his hands, nor did he struggle the effort to know. Somehow, somewhere, there was a point where things had been different between the two of them. He did not know. He did not even notice that there was a chance Phillip would look in that way.

His body was numb yet his heart was racing inside his chest.

Things were going to be different from now on. And he did not know if he should be wary or be happy about it.

"You're beyond many things and it's beautiful."

A/N: Rate and review. Love you. Also there are lots of meanings of flowers so I pretty much joined them all.