Disclaimer: I do not own any Harvest Moon's characters.
Author's Notes: Thank you for reading my story. It means a lot to me ^-^. Please review if there is anything you like or dislike. Have a sweet day c:
"Ahh… it's twelve o'clock already… I'm so tired."
"We did a great job today, Lillian."
"Yes we did but I think I'm getting old. My back hurts from bending too much."
Lillian groaned while resting her upper body on the table.
"Do you want to go to sleep first?" Nori asked.
"Nah, I'll wait when you finish."
"Alright!"
Lillian watched Nori organizing the cooking utensils neatly into the shelves and drawer. The kitchen door slammed opened where Cam entered.
"Good evening, young master," Nori greeted politely as she closed the final door on the shelf.
"Good morning, young master," Lillian added.
"It's twelve a.m but I guess you have a point," Cam smiled and turned to Nori.
"Can I get a cup of water?"
"Sure!"
The young master sat next to Lillian and rested his chin on his hand.
"Why aren't you helping Nori out, you lazy bum?"
"She wouldn't let me!"
"Stop with the excuse," Cam smirked.
"Young master, didn't you come here for a cup of water?"
"Yup. Just waiting for it."
Lillian turned to Nori who was smiling with a cup in her hand.
"Here you go young master," Nori said.
"Thanks,"
Once again, the kitchen door swung open by Ash. He entered with a broad smile on his face.
"Lillian!" Ash yelled.
"Good evening, young master Ash," Nori greeted.
"Good morning, young master Ash," Lillian added.
"It's twelve o'clock in the morning but I guess you have a point."
Ash grabbed Lillian's hand and smiled at her.
"Wanna watch a horror movie with us?"
"W-why?" Lillian stammered. She could feel her heart raced faster than usual as a tingling feeling running through her chest.
"Just for fun! C'mon!"
"N-no! I-I umm I'm still in my maid uniform!"
"Then go change, we'll wait for you."
Lillian turned to Nori in hope that she would has a backup but unfortunately, her friend only smiled and said, "Go on, Lillian, you'll be fine."
"S-sorry, young master Ash but I must refuse your invitation." The maid watched as Ash's exuberance became lifeless.
"Why not?"
"Excuse me for interrupting you, young master," Nori said before she bend down and whispered her words into Ash's ear. His sad grimace became lively again.
"Why are you inviting this maid to watch a scary movie with us?" Cam asked.
"I don't know."
After Ash finished his sentence, he pulled Cam out of the kitchen excitedly. Then Nori grinned at her friend.
"What is it?" Lillian asked in curiosity.
"I see a love triangle between you and the two young masters," Nori smiled.
"No way!"
"Alright alright. I finished my job, want to go get change?"
"Yeah!"
The two maids changed into their pajamas and lay on their beds. Not too long before Lillian felt comfortable in bed, there were knocks on the door.
"Lillian, can you get that?" Nori asked.
"Sure."
As soon as the door opened, Ash pulled Lillian out of the room by the hand and smiled.
"Let's go watch the scary movie?" Ash asked.
"N-no way! I don't want to!" the maid stammered.
Her young master's expression turned into a frown like before. He looked at her with the plead eyes that destroyed her rejection.
"Please?"
"…"
Lillian turned to Nori for help but she only signal for them to leave.
"If anything happens, scream very loud!" Nori said.
Ash chuckled and took the maid to Cam's room.
"Why are you shaking?" Cam asked.
"N-n-no! I'm n-not s-shaking!" Lillian stuttered.
Cam studied her carefully and grinned.
"Oh? Don't tell me you're afraid of ghost," Cam teased.
"What! I'm not!" Lillian refused to accept her young master's statement. She scanned around the big room that was more organized than expected. A big screen TV was displayed on the wall, facing the end of a king size bed. A few big stuff animals sat quietly on the mattress. Cam followed her gaze and said, "Those are from Laney. She gave them to me on my birthday."
"Oh…"
"Hey are you guys ready? The movie is playing!" Ash cheered.
Lillian felt her heart thumping faster and her body shivered at the scary image on the screen. The two young masters sat on the ground while the maid settled herself between them.
"Umm may I sit here?" Lillian asked.
"Yeah," Ash replied with a smile.
Cam pulled one of his stuff animal down and held them in front of Lillian.
"Here, hug it if you need a hug-buddy."
"Thank you."
The room was pitch black, leaving the only source of light was the scenes playing on the TV. Lillian clung onto the fluffy bear that was bigger than her body as the music got more intense.
"OH MY GOSH! DON'T GO IN THERE!" Ash shouted.
"SHE'S GOING TO DIE!" Lillian added.
Cam couldn't help but laughed at the maid who was so unenthusiastic to watch the movie earlier but now she had so much energy to scream with Ash in the night.
"Quiet! You're going to wake Grandpa up!"
"S-sorry, young master."
Soon, Lillian's eyelids became heavy and she drifted asleep. The next morning, the maid found herself in a sitting position between the two young masters. Cam was hugging the bear with his head on her lap while Ash lay on the other lap. They look so innocent that she wanted to poke their cheeks.
"You're awake?" Cam asked.
"I-uh- y-yeah…" Lillian was startled when he burst out the question.
"That's quite a lustful stare you're giving us."
"W-what? I wasn't staring."
"Uh-huh."
"You sure talk a lot for a person who just woke up."
Cam smirked and replied, "I've been awake. Your lap feel like a fat bunny. It's comfortable."
"It's rude to call people fat!" Lillian opposed.
"Truth hurts."
Lillian looked away and pouted up her cheeks.
"What a fluffy pillow… Soft and fat like a big… gigantic… marshmallow…" Ash moaned as he buried his face on Lillian's lap.
"See? I told you so, even Ash said you're fat in his sleep. You know what that mean? The truth had been spoken."
Lillian pushed the boys' heads off and walked toward the door. She glowered at them and bowed down.
"Please excuse me, young masters," Lillian said.
Ash groaned as he tried to understand the situations.
"What happened?"
"You called her fat in your sleep," Cam replied.
"Who?"
"Who else lap did you used to sleep on?"
Ash hesitated for a moment as if he was trying to remember what happened last night. Was it Lillian? He thought.
"Why didn't you shut me up?!"
He rushed out of the room to find Lillian but he bumped into Nori.
"Good morning, young master. Did you sleep well?" the maid greeted as always.
"Umm... do you know where Lillian is?"
"She's getting dress in the maid room right now. Do you need anything, young master?"
"Yeah, I need to apologize to her immediately," Ash replied and let out a sigh.
"Did something happen?" Nori frowned at the boy who was fidgeting his fingers.
"Uh- you see… I accidentally said something rude to her… uhh…"
The maid widened her eyes in surprise. She was curious about what happened during the movie night but she was not dared to ask.
"Nori, I'm going to the supermarket. Do you need me to buy anything?"
Nori turned around to find Lillian standing behind her, dressed in her uniform.
"Good morning, young master," Lillian bowed politely.
"G-good morning…" Ash stuttered.
To Ash, Lillian was always pretty even without make-up or fancy clothes. She was still beautiful even if her hair was a mess. He caught himself in the spider web of her beauty and his lip curved into a smile.
"Why don't you go shopping with our two young masters?" Nori suggested with a smile.
Lillian still had the lingering anger toward Cam this morning but she forced a thin smile.
"But would young masters Ash and Cam be bothered?"
"No way!" Ash yelled.
The two maids themselves were surprised when the young master raised his voice.
"I- um- I mean… you're fun to hang out with… I like being with you," Ash felt his cheeks steaming hot and red. He wished the words would choked back down his throat. The heart that had been throbbing steadily was now beating unmanageably fast.
Lillian responded with a smile that brought curiosities to Ash. What was behind that mysterious smile of that maid? What was on her mind while smiling? What was she feeling? Those questions spun around the young master's mind. He wanted to ask her but the words only stayed in his head.
"I'm glad to hear that. Shall we go get young master Cam?" Lillian said.
"S-sure,"
A disappointment feeling stored inside Ash's heart. He wanted something more than just 'I'm glad to hear that'.
"Oh Lillian! I'll go write down the lists of things you need to buy. Come down stair when you're done," Nori alerted.
"Okay."