Chapter 4:
Lillian clutched onto Ash's shoulders, digging her nails painfully into his back through his shirt. He gritted his teeth and she leaned forward, using him as a lever so that she could see whoever it was sure to be standing behind him. "Oh, hi, Cam," she said breathlessly, but totally carefree as if it totally wasn't what it looked like, even if it actually wasn't. Whatever. It was still embarrassing.
"Afternoon, Lillian," the expected florist answered. Ash felt color flood his cheeks that was in no way related to the way the farm girl was holding him right now. No, it was all simply from the man behind him that caused him to blush. How messed up was that? Refusing to look up, Ash raised one hand in a half-assed wave, trying not to think too hard about the fact that Cam was probably staring.
Fingers tapped impatiently on his shoulder blades, and then Lillian sighed, obviously annoyed. She maneuvered her arms so that she could push on Ash's chest, causing the boy to sit up and plead her with his eyes. Don't go! they clearly begged. Lillian, ever the sadist, just smirked. Following his motions, she righted herself, casually fixing her clothing and giving the strawberry-blonde a pointed look. "I've got work to do," she stated, rising from the bed. She laughed at Ash's hopeless expression and bent so that they were face-to-face. She glanced at Cam, gave him a seemingly innocent smile, then pecked Ash straight on the mouth with a devious grin. Ash's lips opened and closed, flabbergasted with the girl's actions. With a giggle, she waved goodbye and sauntered out the door.
Goddess, what is she trying to prove? Ash thought to himself, wiggling his fingers at the girl's retreating back. The door slammed behind her, signaling the two men were now utterly, completely alone.
Silence.
Finally, Ash worked up enough bravery to look at Cam. As usual, the green-eyed boy had a poker-face that could probably win him millions. Smiling uncomfortably, Ash stood on unsteady legs, realizing he was still in his pajamas and he probably looked like hell. Running a hand through his messy hair, he asked, "So, uh, who let you on?"
"Cheryl was outside. She thinks your sick." Damn it, Cheryl. Though the strawberry-blonde knew it wasn't his sister's fault he'd been bed-ridden for the past few days, he cursed his little sister for letting people in their house without his consent. "Did Lillian change her mind?"
"What?" Ash answered brilliantly. Then, of course, he realized what Cam was talking about. Lillian had rejected him, and now she was kissing him. Though he didn't know why the silver-eyed farmer did that, he assumed it was just to mess with him and the oblivious Cam. "Uh, no... No, we're still not... I mean—it wasn't what it looked like! Lil's just, er, weird, ya know?" Really weird, but Cam didn't have to know about her support for their non-existent relationship. "S-She came over to see what was wrong with me. And, um... Yeah," he ended lamely. Goddess. Why did he suck at communicating with Cam all of a sudden?
Oh. Right.
"So you two are still just friends?" Cam rose a quizzical brow, not looking at all convinced.
Ash blanched. He shouldn't care if Cam believed him or not, right? It wasn't like it was his business. "Y-Yeah. Why do you ask?"
"I see. So, when a friend like Lillian kisses you, it's alright. You don't bite her and then run away."
As quickly as he had paled, Ash turned a vulgar shade of pink. Cam wanted to talk about that. Why else would the florist want to visit him? With a large sigh, Ash slumped back down on his bed, burying his red face into his upturned palms, elbows resting on his knees. Next to him, the mattress dipped, signaling someone else had taken a seat. It really didn't surprise Ash much at this point that Cam just went and invited himself to sit next to Ash. After all, the normally antisocial boy was becoming quite friendly as of late. "I-It's... different," Ash finally said, answering his friend's previous question.
"How?" Cam questioned.
Goddess, why wouldn't Cam just stop playing dumb? Once again, Ash bolted to his feet, turning harshly on his heel to point an accusing finger at the still-sitting figure. "Because!" he spat. He opened his mouth to say more, but Cam just wore this amused expression and the words lodged in his throat. "Y-You're laughing at me, aren't you?"
It was Cam's turn to sigh. Following Ash, he rose to his feet, facing the younger head-on. "I'm just trying to figure you out," he said.
Funny, Ash thought warily, I could say the same thing.
"There's nothing to figure out," Ash amended, hackles slowly lowering. He really shouldn't let himself get worked up like this. "I'm still the same farm kid you made friends with all those years ago. The only thing that messed it up was that incident the other day." Wincing at his own words, he turned away from Cam, suddenly finding a crack in the wall much more interesting. "S-So let's just forget it happened, alright?"
Silence.
Ash really wished he could read minds. Or at least figure out what Cam was feeling without turning around. His chest kind of hurt, and he almost wished Cam would ignore his wishes and try to get him to talk about that stupid kiss more. But, of course, that wasn't really Cam's style, so why should Ash expect it?
When Cam didn't say anything, Ash turned to face him once again. "I-I mean, it's not like that kiss actually meant anything, right? Ha ha..." He wrung his hands out in front of him, smiling in what he hoped was an easy manner. "You w-were just doing me a favor, right? A... f-friendly favor! As friends. No ulterior motives of any kind or, um... anything. Just because I was bitching and whining. And I appreciate the thought! Really, I do! A-And I'm sorry for reacting the way I did—I wasn't actually expecting you to try and fix the issue." At this point, Ash's eyes were darting around his room, stopping for a millisecond on anything that wasn't Cam. "So... Sorry for troubling you with my miniscule problems! Next time, I'll fix them myself. I w-won't make you feel like you're obligated to do anything, okay?" He let out another shaky laugh, realizing he was babbling. When he ran out of things to talk about, he offered the florist a pathetic grin. "O-okay?" he repeated, just to get his point across.
Cam stepped closer to him, and Ash found himself tensing in response. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately around Cam. Was it because he was afraid, or because of his... crush? However, Cam didn't attack him, just stuck out his hand quietly.
Oh. A handshake. A friendly, manly way to seal a deal. Ash could deal with that. And then, after that, Cam would leave and...
Then what?
The blue-eyed farmer wasn't really sure. Would they go back to how it was before, as best friends? Or would Ash still feel awkward? Well, okay, it was obvious Ash would feel a little uncomfortable, but the feeling of unease would go away once he got over his silly infatuation for his friend. They'd both meet nice girls and settle down and have kids and all that other stuff that people did when they grew up.
With that weird, hollow feeling back in his chest, Ash forced the corners of his mouth to tilt upwards into a semblance of happiness as he rose his hand and placed it in Cam's palm.
Firmly, the green-eyed boy shook Ash's hand, which hung limply. Alright, he was being a bit of a wuss about this. So what? They stood there for a moment, Ash finally looking the boy in the face. A second passed. Another. Ash was just about to open his mouth to ask Cam some silly question or make some unrelated statement when Cam's grip on Ash's hand tightened and he pulled the shorter boy to him, crashing his lips into the farmer's for the second time in the past week.
"Mmf!" Cam! Alright, mmf and Cam sounded nothing alike, but Ash really couldn't be blamed since his mouth was currently full of the aforementioned boy's tongue. His face heated and his palms sweated. His eyes widened, and that weird feeling stirred in his stomach. Butterflies? Maybe. Though, they were probably more along the lines of bats.
Ash wanted to ask his friend just what in the Goddess' name he thought he was doing, but he found himself melting into the makeshift kiss. Cam's tongue was lightly probing against his own, trying to get a reaction. Surprisingly enough, instead of biting like the last time, Ash's tongue met the other boy's as if on its own accord, without the farmer's consent. A soft sound bubbled up in his throat, and Cam seemed to like it because he lifted his free hand to twine itself into the mop of messy, strawberry-blonde hair.
With that grip, he tilted Ash's head for an even better angle. Ever so slowly, Ash felt his lids slide shut. Somewhere deep down, the eighteen-year-old knew he should be putting up more of a fight, but...
He moaned. That could be taken as a "stop," right?
Apparently it could, because Cam pulled back slowly. To Ash's utter mortification, a thing line of saliva connected their mouths for a moment before snapping apart. He could feel the tips of his ears burn as he watched the pleased, content look on Cam's face, reminding him of a cat. Eyes wide in embarrassment, he started to stutter something before Cam (luckily) cut him off.
"Ash," he said firmly, in his ever even-tone. Geez, Ash envied that. How great would it be to never trip over his words?
In response, Ash grumbled out something that could be taken as a response. He was still trying to catch his breath, actually, but he'd never admit that out loud.
In a gentle fashion, Cam slid the hand that had been knotted in Ash's hair down to cup his cheek, rubbing his thumb across Ash's lower lip. Fortunately for the younger boy, it wasn't physically possible for him to get any redder than he currently was. "Ash," Cam said again. "Do you really think I'd give up on you that easily?"
"G-Give up?" Ash replied ever-so-eloquently. Goddess, can you please just take away my voice or something? Better yet, just make me spontaneously combustive. Please.
Cam smiled genuinely. "That's right," he murmured. "I'm not going to let you get away that easily. This is the closest I've come to actually having you, and I'm not giving up that chance."
Ash's brows furrowed in confusion. "Wh-Wha—?"
"I like you," Cam stated with an infinite finality. "Please go out with me."
–
A/n: -authoress flails wildly- Holy poop, guys! You're so utterly awesome with your reviews. Like, fo' realz. S-so many of them... -hugs all up-
So, about the story. I was actually fangirling myself... considering I'm writing it, I say that's a win.
Ah. A big thank you to my reviewers! (maxeyn, I-Have-Been-Changed-For-Good, Lethe Albion, Katekate376, xian ke, boredomkiller123, your devoted no. 1 fan, zuki 94, snow kyubbi, animage, Vic, theatrelove123, xlittlemissfangirlx, RandomKitty, Moonlight-Wolfe, AiOkami, floridapanther28, Jade-Cat, Koko-Chan, Rawr, Bloodypassion, Randomperson, and Mirria1) Sweet baby Jesus, there's a lot of you. AND I LOVE IT. Gah.
You guys know what to do by now~
