Okay, chapter eight is up! Sorry that the last chapter was a bit short, but this one is longer! I hope you like it, and I don't own Harvest Moon. Please enjoy reading it!
Cliff's Illness Revealed
The next morning I wake up naked in Gray's bed. Gray has already left for work and I sigh unhappily. I wish he had more days off from work but I know being a blacksmith is important to him. Kai seems to have left already as well. I shower and then get dressed before heading out. I wanted to ask Kai for a job today but I know he wants to spend the day with Rick so I decide that I'll wait till tomorrow. Instead I head to the church to see Carter since I haven't visited him for a while. I sit down in the front pew like always and close my eyes as I think about my life.
"Cliff, it's nice to see you again," I hear Carter's voice from over by the confessional room. I open my eyes to see him just entering from the confessional. "Yeah, sorry I haven't been around much," I say sheepishly. "That's quite alright. I've heard you were sick and then got together with Gray. I don't mind that you've been busy, but it is quite nice to see you again," Carter says as he sits down beside me.
"You… aren't mad that I'm gay? I thought that was a sin…" I mutter softly. "The Goddess loves all of her people, no matter who they love," Carter says and places a hand on my shoulder. I smile at him happily; Carter is one of my dearest friends and I'm glad he understands. "Now, what is worrying you?" I look at him in surprise; he can read me so well. "I… I'm worried about my illness. I've kept it from Gray because I'm scared of what will happen to our relationship if he finds out, but also I want to be able to tell him anything…" I say sadly. "I don't think your relationship with Gray will change. Gray loves you and no matter what type of illness you have I'm sure he'll still love you," Carter says and smiles at me brightly. "Thanks, Carter," I say happily and give him a hug before getting up to leave.
Just as I'm about to exit the church I start to feel light-headed and then black out. Just before I lose consciousness I hear Carter call out to me.
I wake up in the Clinic with Gray, Carter, Doctor Trent and Elli standing around me. "Cliff!" Gray says happily when he sees I'm awake. Gray wraps his arms around me and buries his face in my hair. I blush softly because the others are watching us, but I don't care too much. I can tell that Gray was worried about me and it makes me feel a bit guilty. "Are you feeling alright, Cliff?" Doctor Trent asks. "Just a bit light-headed…" I mutter and smile softly at Gray who has tears in his eyes. Gray seems relieved that I'm not in pain or anything and kisses my forehead before letting go of me.
"Is this usual for you, Cliff?" Doctor Trent asks curiously. "Yeah, especially during the summer when it's hotter out," I mutter and sit up slowly. "What has your city doctor recommended?" Doctor Trent asks as he writes stuff down on his clipboard. "Just to take it easy and get lots of sleep," I mutter. "There isn't really much I can do for it…" Gray seems more and more worried every moment. "What's wrong with you?" Gray asks softly.
"I… have a rare disease. It's sort of a birth defect I guess since I've had it my whole life, though every year it seems to get worse. I have this… thing… in me that slowly eats away at my organs. So every ten years I have to get organ transplants. Apparently I was supposed to die because of this when I was little and my doctor said that every year was a miracle. But no matter how they tried to cure me nothing worked… So everyone I knew just seemed to be waiting for me to die. That's why I came here, so that I could pretend to be normal until I die…." I explain softly and I can see Gray starting to cry again as he flings his arms around me and hugs me tightly. Carter looks ready to cry as well, and Elli has tears in her eyes. Doctor Trent is staring at me sadly.
After everyone was done crying over me Gray and I headed back to the Inn. Gray was silent the whole time and was clinging to me possessively. I felt guilty for making him worry about me and I cling to him as well. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, Gray. I was just scared that you wouldn't want to be with me anymore if you knew I was going to die…" I say softly. "I would never leave you, Cliff. Knowing that you could die just makes me want to spend as much time with you as I can while you're still alive," Gray says and hugs me close.
When we enter our room at the Inn we find Kai and Rick in Kai's bed – naked. "Uh, sorry if we're interrupting you," Gray mutters uncomfortably. Neither of us wanted to see this much of Rick or Kai. Rick and Kai's faces go bright red and Kai pulls the blankets over them so that we can't see that much of them anymore. "We didn't think you'd be back so soon…" Kai mutters nervously. "It's okay, we should have knocked…" I mutter. Rick seems completely embarrassed by this and is hiding his face in a pillow. "Um, we'll leave for a moment so you two can get dressed…" Gray mutters and pulls me out of the room and into the hallway.
After about five minutes we head back into the room to see Kai and Rick both dressed again. Rick's face was still bright red and he was clinging to Kai, which Kai seemed to enjoy quite a bit. I watch Kai whisper something in Rick's ear which makes his face go redder and a bulge appear in his pants. Gray just rolls his eyes and sits down on his bed tiredly. I curl up beside him and try and get some sleep (Doctor Trent's orders). "Is it okay if Rick spends the night here? We won't do anything dirty while you two are here, but I kind of want to spend as much time as I can with him while I'm here," Kai asks hopefully. "Yeah, sure, whatever," Gray mutters as he cuddles with me. Rick smiles and kisses Kai happily as they start making out on Kai's bed.
I can't seem to get to sleep so I play with Gray's hair absentmindedly. He had taken his hat off earlier and placed it on the bedside table. Gray is half-asleep and is smiling his adorable smile as he caresses my face. "I love you, Gray," I say softly. "I love you too, Cliff," Gray murmurs back and we kiss passionately. Gray's arms wrap tightly around my waist and my arms go loosely around his neck. We kiss until we're breathless and then start to kiss again once we catch our breath.
Around midnight Gray finally falls asleep. His sleeping face is so cute I can't help but kiss his forehead. "Cliff…" Gray mutters in his sleep and smiles. "Love… you…" "I love you too," I say softly and fall asleep in his arms.
End of chapter eight.
Do you like the little Kai x Rick moments? I think they're a cute couple. And you finally got to know what Cliff's illness was! If I knew more about medicine and stuff I'd have gotten into more detail about it. But I pretty much made it up as I went along. Anyways, I'm working on chapter nine. It may be up tonight, if not it'll be up tomorow. I should also work on my other story... Anyway, please review my chapters! If you do I'll dedicate a chapter to you!
Special note to Farm Story: since you are such a loyal reader I was wondering if you want me to do a special little oneshot story for you. If so, just send me a message or put it in one of your reviews. I'll do any pairing from the Mineral Town game, the Island Of Happiness game or the Wonderful Life game.