Chapter Nine

It was dark. It was quiet.

When Ash had fully regained consciousness, he could neither see nor hear anything. He sat up in bed, having merely two thoughts on his mind: he wondered where he was, for starters, and then he grew curious for his sister, Cheryl. Where was she? Was she here, too - lurking in the shadows of the pitch-black room? Ash wouldn't know unless he called out her name and gave her voice a try. He pleaded and hoped that she would answer.

"Cheryl?"

But no such reply came. And soon, Ash felt very uneasy. He crawled out from bed, relentlessly hunting the room for an exit or a light. And to his very relief, he found a particular, cracked-open door that allowed such a yellowish glow to seep through - emitting a way of escape. He went forth to follow that light, coming through the cracked door and hanging a left. He drew to a complete stop when he met with the end of the hallway he had just ventured through. It was the end of the line. Now he peeked around one corner of the wall to absorb all the light that the prior door had hinted to: the light that he had been sneaking up on this whole time. There, around that corner of a wall, his eyes met with the figure of a man - probably around the same age as Ash - who, with his back turned, snipped at several stems of several flowers, sitting all-too-calmly in a chair at a small, rectangular, wooden table.

Ash had thought the man to look familiar. But he had rather thought to just stay put and watch what would happen next than to take investigation into his own hands.

Where in the world was he? What it appeared to be, in accordance to Ash, was a petite flower shop. Flowers and various other flower-related things were arranged throughout the room. They were found on walls and tables and just about anywhere one could look.

In due time, the scene had produced a woman who trotted across the floor and to the man-like figure. The woman's identity was unknown to Ash. She planted a kiss on the man's head, and then pushed his hat down just below his eyes in a teasing manner. She thus began her leave. "G'night," she said, smiling at the man before she left the scene entirely.

The man seemed to have angled his head just far enough for Ash to view his facial features. This had happened when the man had directed his attention to the girl in his means of returning a faint, feeble smile at her before she had left, lifting his hat back up as he did. His features made Ash's heart drop still and to have his eyes widen in shock. What Ash had discovered was the identity of the man. It was Cam.

Ash immediately turned on his heels, ridding himself from sight so that Cam wouldn't happen to find him snooping about - or really - to have him not notice him at all. He panicked over just what his next course of action should be, but more importantly: who was that woman? Cam's girlfriend? Wife, perhaps? He couldn't have gotten married in two-years-time, could he?

Ash poked his head out to check on things again, doing so cautiously. It had proven to be a bad idea, however. Cam was already walking towards him and he had to hide twice as fast if he was ever to see the light of day again. So he had retreated instinctively. His heart throbbed so hard in his chest - it was unbearable. He peeked out again several seconds later to find him standing at a table that was against one wall, near to him. The table had an assortment of flower decor, and Cam was messing with it, picking up ribbons, tape, and others accessories alike.

Ash hid - yet again. He gulped. A rush of heat had invaded his cheeks.

'What should I do? Should I say something? Will he know it's me if I just speak up?'

The sudden voice of Cam became heard: "I see you're awake. That's good to know. I thought you were going to sleep forever...," he said, smiling only little.

Ash stood still. He was motionless. He was surprised to have heard Cam's voice rise so suddenly.

Silence had filtered in the room. Ash didn't dare to say anything for such a long, given amount of time.

"... Wh-Where's Cheryl?" He finally asked timidly. The question was the best response he could manage to bring up, and a very poor one to bring up at that.

"I sent her home," Cam replied. "I figured your mother must have been very worried. I would have sent you home, too, but..."

"... But...?"

"But you came all this way just to find me, right?"

Ash blushed further. His thoughts became tangled. Cam knew he was looking for him? For how long had he known?

"... Cam... I...-"

"Still... I'm happy that you did. At first, I didn't think my plan was going to work... In fact, I never dreamed that you would come looking for me at all."

"Huh? You..." Ash's face twisted to a look of annoyance and disapproval. "So you actually did set me up? Why would you do that? I spent hours - a day, even - just to find out where you were! For goddess' sake, I nearly died for you!" He shouted, enraged. He was referring back to the moment in time in which he was forced to drink that mysterious potion from that mysterious girl, and... To almost die because of it. Well, he very well could have died, anyway...

Cam chuckled to his friend's remark, having hardly any control over his own laughter. "I'm sorry, but... The potion-drinking wasn't a part of my plan. I wasn't anticipating that at all, to be honest. I was actually worried sick when you arrived here with your sister, passed-out."

'Is he... Is he making fun of me?'

"...But... But still," Ash pressed on. "You still didn't have to send me on a whole damn quest!"

Cam smiled more. His smile was warm and kind - just like him. His hands stuck into his pockets. "I wanted to know how far you would go just to see me again... I thought putting you to the test was the best way to measure such an obstacle."

'Huh? He was... Testing our friendship? Or no, he was...'

"..."

"As it turns out, you like me more than I thought."

Ash shot up. By this point, his cheeks had become such a bright red that it burnt. He truthfully didn't know what to say.

'He was actually... Evaluating my fondness for him...'

Without the slightest perk of Ash's awareness, Cam came over to him and stood right in front of him now, exhausting that gentle smile of his all the more. He presented some type of flower that he had picked up from the table earlier. He held it out to Ash. Ash took it in turn, gazing down at it blankly. He wasn't so much puzzled as he was surprised. The flower was known to be a jonquil, but Ash didn't know that because he had never known that much about flowers to begin with. He wasn't some sort of flower-expert, let's face it. That was Cam's job. But nonetheless, the flower was very pretty and beautiful. It was a pure white color and it extracted the essence of delicacy.

There came a thud to Ash's left. That thud came from Cam, who had slumped his back against the wall - just next to Ash. He produced a long, lengthy sigh... But he had said nothing after that.

Was the flower just meant to be a gift? If so, for what reason?

It was silent again. The atmosphere composed some sort of heavy, awkward tension. Or so, that's what it felt like for Ash. His mind was still clouded with so many unnecessary thoughts. He strained himself to search for anything that he could say to Cam that might possibly lift the atmosphere's unbearable weight. He even wondered if he should talk about Cam and his new flower shop... But that would sound stupid, wouldn't it?

Suddenly, he hit the back of his head on the wall out of frustration. He just remembered - after gazing at the jonquil for so long - that he had promised Cheryl that he would give Cam some flowers whenever he find him again. Crap.

"Ugh! I forgot!"

Cam's attention was drawn, and he looked quite concerned. "Hm?"

"I was going to get you flowers too! Damn it!"

Ash's response seemed to have surprised him. "You were... Going to get me flowers...?" He asked, blushing faintly enough to have made his cheeks appear pink rather than red.

Ash's eyes widen. What did he just say? Did he actually confess that he was planning to get Cam some flowers? His cheeks flared a red and he turned to Cam at once, pushing a smile. "Oh - uhh... W-Well, yeah, sort of... Cheryl kinda suggested it, and I... W-Well, just forget about it... I didn't really mean to-" He was cut short by Cam forcing a passionate kiss on his lips. His eyes widened all the more and his blushing cheeks had come back to embarrass him. Cam had him pressed against the wall with both his hands up to block his head on either side of it.

When Cam had pulled from him, his gaze fell to the floor.

There came that awkward silence again. But now it was even more awkward than the last.

Cam's face became partially obscured by his hair when his head had narrowed, too. But even when his expression became so hard to make out... Ash could still see the redness on his cheeks that he couldn't quite seem to hide all too well, although he had hidden his eyes perfectly. Was he embarrassed too?

It was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop a mile away. In fact, Ash could even hear the softness of Cam's breathing, and it made him wonder if he could hear his breathing as well.

Cam didn't budge - but he did attempt to say something. At first, it came out as a mumble, but then gradually became louder with each proceeding word. "Remember that time, two years ago... When I kissed you behind Georgia's house, and in the pasture...?"

Ash stared at him. "... Cam...?"

"... How were you feeling that day...?"

Ash's heart beat wildly in his chest. He wondered if Cam could hear his heartbeat, too...

"... Umm... Well... I... Umm... Cam? Are you feeling okay?"

"Please just answer."

Why was Cam asking this? It was way too abrupt.

Ash stirred uncomfortably. The familiar heat returned to his face. He tried to avoid eye contact with his friend.

"... I... Well... Well..."

Great. He caught himself saying 'well' way too much. He was sure he sounded stupid by this point...

He looked to the floor again. "I-I don't really know..."

After hearing that, Cam seemed somewhat displeased with it as he slumped his back against the wall once more, exhaling another one of his sighs. The sigh this time was pushed harder than the previous one.

Ash glanced to him, studying him all around. "... Cam...? Are you okay?"

"... Yeah..."

Ash started to stutter, "... W-well, I mean... I mean i-it's not like I didn't feel anything at all, I just... I just..."

"... You just...?"

"... It felt kinda weird... And kinda..."

"Cam? Are you-" A girl poked her head around the corner of the wall at the two boys. She blinked at them. It was that same girl who Ash had seen from before - the one that had kissed Cam on the head all-too-lovingly. She saw Ash and stopped, mid-sentence. "Oh. You're finally awake. It's nice to see that you're okay. Did you sleep well?" She smiled at him gently.

Ash took notice to her. "Oh, um... Yes, I did. Thanks."

"I'm Rina." She bowed respectfully. "And you're... Ash, right? I heard about you from Cam. He's talked about you quite a bit, I think."

"... He has?"

Cam shifted his eyes from the two - embarrassed. "I have not..."

The girl, Rina, giggled. "So, Cam, are you coming to bed anytime soon?"

"Yeah, I'll... I'll be in there in just a bit," Cam said.

"Okay. Hurry up, 'kay? You know I can't sleep without you."

Rina walked away.

What was Rina to Cam? Ash had to know. So he started to ask, "... Who...," but just as soon as he did, Cam had disrupted him by coming before him and putting his hands up on the wall to limit Ash's movements.

Cam became very serious. "... Stay with me."

"D-Do what?"

"... I'm not letting you go again... I've made up my mind."

Huh?

Ash couldn't control his rapid heartbeat. He wanted to escape, but how could he when Cam was blocking his getting-away from either side? So he started to gently shove at Cam's chest, blushing madly. "Ahahaha... Cam, do you even hear yourself? I think all this bouquet-making has gone over your head. You should probably give it a rest; I think it's really getting to you..."

"Ash, I'm serious."

His heart skipped a beat. Cam was serious? But not when he had a girlfriend. Not when he had... No, Ash didn't want to think about it. Now he grew rather agitated and fed-up with Cam. He shoved harder at his chest. "C-Cam, I'm serious. C-Cut it out; it's not funny anymore." He finally broke free of Cam and began his leave.

Cam grabbed his arm firmly to stop him. "Ash, stay with me, please."

"F-For what reason? Why do you want me to stay so badly?"

"Because... I missed you..."

Ash's eyes squeezed shut as he tugged his arm from Cam's hold very forcefully. "W-Well that's just some sappy excuse!" He continued walking, trying to brush aside his guilt of leaving Cam.

But Cam, of course, still wouldn't let him go. He embraced Ash from behind, trying his best to make him stay. "... Please?"

'Damn, he's persistent. If he keeps this up, I'm going to be... Sucked in.'

"Cam, I said no! Let go!" He escaped Cam and made his way to the front door and opened it, walking outside. he stopped dead in his tracks.

The breezy wind of the cold night instantly clung to his frail body. But that wasn't the problem. The streetlights, the cars, the buildings... They were all new to Ash. He didn't know where in the hell he was. The lights illuminated the sky better than the stars did, too, proving that this unknown place was somewhere in the middle of a freaking city. One corner of Ash's mouth turned slightly upwards out of sheer disbelief and some strange madness of it all. He couldn't freaking believe it. He couldn't freaking believe that out of all times this could happen - it just so happened to happen now, when Ash had definitely wanted it the least. It was completely unbelievable...

In the midst of Ash's amazement, Cam came out and leaned his shoulder against the door-frame, smiling triumphantly at Ash like he had just earned some damn metal or something... "You have no idea where you're at, do you?"

"Shut up! Yes I do!" Ash barked at him. He scanned his surroundings, making Cam wait eagerly for his next course of action. "I'm, uh... I'm, uh... Somewhere - somewhere in the middle of..." He hunched over, giving in and sighing. A drop of sweat formed on his head.

"Give up?" Cam asked.

"Yeah, whatever... Tell me..."

Cam crossed his arms, feeling quite victorious after Ash's giving-up. He closed his eyes arrogantly. "Well, wouldn't you like to know?"

Ash looked to him, raising an eyebrow.

'Oh, goddess... Where is he going with this...? That smile doesn't seem too kind...'


I ate way too many chocolate bars while writing this... It made me get really hyper, so I'm sorry for such a long chapter... Or, unless... You like really descriptive narrating... Hell if I know...

Oh yeah! And if I get at least ten reviews for this chapter alone, I will consider adding a sex-scene to one of my chapters! And if I can get twenty, I will guarantee it! Of course, that is, if you do want a sex-scene... If you don't want one, just review and say you don't want any sex-scenes...

AnyWHO! :3

And now... A quick interview with Cam:

Me: So, Cam, I hear you can understand the meanings of flowers quite well. Tell me, what does the "jonquil" mean, exactly?

Cam: ... It means... "Please return my feelings..."

Me: Oh, really? Is that what you meant when you gave Ash that jonquil?

Cam: *blushes* ... -_-;;; Umm... This is very uncomfortable...

Ash: Leave him alone! *insert angry face here*

Mufufufu! I'm a clever goose, aren't I? I actually researched flowers quite a bit to find the perfect meaning to fit Cam and Ash's relationship as of now.

Well... Please R&R! It will greatly depress me if you don't! I will be forced to kill myself, then... (Just kidding.)