Disclaimers: I don't own Natsume and had nothing to do with the creation or development of Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life. I'm simply using the characters for my and my muse's entertainment.

This is what Summer's All About by Yaoi Girl

"Shimatta!" I heard Maya scream, stirring me from my sleep several hours later. Then I faintly hear the frantic opening and closing of a door, but I don't know if he went outside or had to go to the bathroom really bad; I was still too asleep to care, not to mention comfortable.

A few moments later, however, I'm sitting upright in the bed, the blanket that Maya had apparently laid over me flying to the floor as I heard the loudest thunder clap of my young life. It literally sounded like it was in his pasture.

The pasture…the animals are still out!! That's why Maya was in such a hurry with the door slamming!

Within seconds of this realization, I'm up and out the door into the drizzle. Thank goddess that's all it is right now; I don't really want to go home yet and have change, and I will make it through this entire day of farming.

But by the time I make it into the pasture, the animals are all tucked away safe and sound in their cozy barn, as I discovered when I walked in to see Maya hauling an armful of fodder over to a feed box.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" I pouted; I'm supposed to be proving I can do something useful here!

"I wanted to make sure I got them in here before the storm really started up; I don't know how hard you are to wake up," he shrugged, though I knew he was teasing me again.

"A shove off the bed or a bucket of cold water would do just fine," I grin as I help him finish feeding the animals.

Once we're done, Maya stands staring out the windows of the front door of the barn, frowning.

"You ready to make a run for it?"

I let out a whimper in the back of my throat as I wince with a slightly angered expression; I hate wearing wet clothes. "Yeah."

======

A few agonizing, wet moments later, we're safe and sound from the raging storm, drying our hair as best we could with towels; are clothes, for the most part, are fairly dry. It wasn't as far as a run as I thought, that and we waited a few minutes for the rain to let up a little before we did run like hell to the house, though it barely let up at all.

While I finished drying my hair, Maya heated up my lunch and I ate it happily when it was ready. Mmm…food.

All the while, until the last couple bites of my lunch, I was paying so much attention to the delicious meal before me that I didn't see Maya sitting next to me, though a respectable distance away, with his palm in his hand, staring at me, though he looked like he was looking through me, like he was daydreaming about something. It was awkward for me to be done eating and knowing that he was staring at me, or at least towards me. Really awkward.

Thankfully, the storm outside intervened, causing us to both jump as the sound of thunder once again filled the tiny house.

"You might be stuck here for the night whether you like it or not," I hear him say as he picks up my plate and sets it in the sink. "It doesn't look like it's going to let up anytime soon."

I walked over to the window to watch the lightning streak across the sky, fascinated by it. I've always loved storms, just not when they sound like they're inside my room. During the stormy season, nine times out of ten I'm sitting on my windowsill with the window wide open to watch the lightning.

"Hey, I need to go take care of the chickens again and collect the evening milk; you don't need to worry about going out in this."

"Are you sure?"

He nods and smiles at me before heading for the door with a frown; apparently he hates getting drenched as much as I do, but at least he has dry clothes waiting for him when he comes back in.

So, with nothing to do and being alone for the time being, I head back over toward the bed, lying down once more. I fold my hands behind my head and stare at his ceiling, thinking, not being able to get over the fact that Maya was staring at/towards me like that earlier. There's no possible way that he likes guys, let alone me, right? Ah, but it's nice to dream… And as for me, is it just Maya that I'm attracted to or all guys? Would I freak out if a guy kissed me? Or freak out if I actually had the urge and guts to kiss another guy for that matter?

Several more minutes pass before Maya comes back, drenched thoroughly to the bone…and the wet, see-thru shirt…I hate teenage hormones, despite the fact that I'm 17 and should be able to control them better than this.

"Could you toss me a towel; I don't want to track water through too much," he calls to me as he takes off his boots and socks, his rucksack being set aside a moment later while I stand in front of him, holding out a towel, trying not to stare too openly. "Thanks."

After he takes the towel, I head back to the bed once again; I've decided that this is my favorite spot in his house, and it would be even better if Maya were in it with me…I really need to stop that train of thought; I'm having enough trouble controlling my wandering hormones as it is. Maybe that's the cause of my Maya infatuation…?

Once he was done somewhat drying himself, I hear him walk across the room and rummage around in a drawer, and then I hear the bathroom door click shut. A few minutes later, he emerges, wearing a tank top and a pair of boxers. Oh…tonight is going to be hell.

"I would ask if you wanted to watch TV, but the reception's always bad during storms, so I don't really have anything else for us to do," he said as he sat on the edge of the bed, flipping his still wet bangs from his face before he rolls onto his stomach, propping his chin up with his hand, looking down at me.

"What do you usually do when it's like this then?" I ask as I roll onto my side to face him more comfortably.

"Sleep, but I know you won't go to bed this early and…" he trailed off as he sat up and looked out the window at a particularly bright flash of lightning, and once it was gone, we were left in total darkness, with the exception of the lightning and little light provided from the setting sun behind the clouds, which really wasn't much at all. I didn't mind it, but Maya seemed to be upset as he fell back into the mattress with a sigh.

"You alright?"

"Yeah, just disappointed."

"About what?"

"The electricity going out; I was going to see if you wanted to play a card game or something."

For the longest time we were silent, listening to the thunder outside while he lay sprawled out on the bed and me sitting on my knees with my arms crossed over the sill, watching.

"Ne, Rock?"

"Hm?"

"Is it just me, or do you get lonely when it storms?"

"Yeah, sometimes," I told him as I turned to face him, sitting on my heels, leaning against the wall behind me slightly. "Are you lonely now, even with me here?"

"A little; how about you?"

While he had responded, I had laid down next to him on my back with my hands beneath my head again.

"Yeah, me too."

"How do you usually deal with the pain of being alone?"

"I either sing to myself or cry," I softly admitted. "I feel like crying now, but I won't."

"It's not good to keep things bottled up, Rock."

I smiled weakly, embarrassed. "I know. But I'm nearly 18, and guys that age shouldn't cry over the little things."

"I don't think being lonely is a little thing at all," Maya sighs as he rolls onto his side so that his back is facing me.

"Which girl is it?" I grin despite myself, teasing him as I rolled onto my side, poking him in the back.

"What are you talking about?" I hear him mumble sleepily.

"Don't play that with me," I smile as I roll him to lie on his back. "You're having girl problems." Even as I say this, a pang of jealousy fills my heart. I must be falling fast and hard. Goddess, I'm such a girl! I guess that's what happens when you live with two of them and have grown up around a great deal of them.

"Don't worry about it," he replies with a wave of his hand to dismiss the subject before yawning. "Sorry, but I think I'm going to sleep for the night. You can stay till the rain lets up."

I sigh, defeated. "Yeah, sure."

'So does he not trust me enough with his problems?' I can't help but sadly think as I again sit up and stare out the window.

"Rock, it's not…it's not anyone that…you think it is," I hear him shyly mumble several minutes later, but I know he's too tired now for me to prod the information out of him.

I turn from the window and lean against the wall, my eyes glazing over as I think about nothing and everything, the only thing distracting me is when Maya suddenly pulls his cover over his face. 'What's wrong?' I think, though I dare not say it out loud for fear it's something too personal and he'll yell at me.

Then everything clicks in my head and my eyes grow wide. 'He couldn't…!' It simply isn't possible, but everything that's happened in the past two days adds up to what my mind concludes.

Maya has a crush on me too.

I mean, think about it. We were practically holding hands yesterday afternoon, shared a romantic fireworks display and I 'stole' his shoulder for that event without him protesting, him letting me sleep in his bed, him staring at me when I ate…just every little thing makes sense, but is it the right conclusion? My mind still screams 'yes' because why else would he be hiding under his covers, shaking like that? Especially after the 'it's not who you think it is' and the 'who I think it is' is one of the girls in town.

But all I can bring myself to do at this realization is stare at the huddled and obliviously crying teen beneath the covers while the nagging part of my brain's still telling me it's a girl from somewhere else that I don't know and he's longing for her.

Despite the nagging part, I'm willing to risk everything, to test my theory and see if the 'yes' part of my brain is right. But if I'm wrong…may the Goddess help my wretched soul.

TBC

Long time no update, I know. But if I had other Rock/farmer boy fics to read to help jumpstart my poor overloaded brain…. hint hint

Anywho, hope you liked so far and review!