Track 11
A few short hours later, she woke up again, remembering exactly where she was. She sat up and looked at him. He was now on his back and the plush had fallen on the floor. He wasn't under the covers anymore, either. She looked in front of her to see that they were all on her side... Had she hogged all the blankets from him?
She crawled over to him with the blanket and covered him. The room had definitely grown colder since they came in, so she felt a little bad. He looked so cold. Gently, she placed a hand on his. It felt like ice! The poor little hoglet...
She stared at him for a moment, thinking over what she was about to do. She gulped back any nervous feelings she had and crawled over him just a bit before resting her head on him and pulling the covers over both of him. His body was definitely a little chilled, which made her feel guilty. She would make him feel better, though. She was determined.
She tucked the covers under him and let her body rest against his. Feeling a sudden warmth, Crow jolted awake and looked down to see Hikari cuddling up to him. Without saying a word, he wrapped his arms around her and held her close to him. He wasn't sure why he felt so cold, and he didn't like it. Being cold was the worst feeling in the world, but she felt so warm. It was so nice...
Hikari felt his cold hands on her body and jumped a little before realizing it must have been him holding her in his sleep out of instinct. "It's okay, Hoglet..." she whispered, which caught his attention. "You'll warm up soon. I'm so sorry... I just hope this doesn't bother you." She closed her eyes and tried to sleep again.
He smiled and hugged her tighter before burying his face into her hair. It was so soft and had a sweet smell to it. He watched her carefully as she drifted off to sleep again, realizing more and more how perfect he found her to be. In the small amount of moonlight that was shining through the window, he thought she looked like a beautiful little angel in his arms. He gently kissed the top of her head and went back to sleep.
Morning unfortunately came and Hikari was the first to wake. She felt so perfectly rested. She looked to Crow, who seemed to be sleeping with a smile on his face. He was so cute...
The moment she moved, she felt him stir beneath her and slowly he opened his eyes to see her watching him. "Good morning, Hoglet... How did you sleep?" she asked.
He rubbed his eye and yawned. "I slept really well, actually. I had a sweet surprise when I woke up last night."
Hikari giggled a little. "You looked like you were cold. I kinda stole the blankets, so I figured I owed you."
He gently pet her hair and smiled down at her. "I'm glad you did." He sat up and pulled her with him, ready to kiss her again when his phone went off. "Hm?"
He sat up, picking the phone up off his nightstand and checking his messages. "Oh. It's from Kamiko. It's a group message that she must have sent to all of us. It looks like she and Aion just met up," he told her before turning the phone around to show her the picture Kamiko sent of the two of them.
Hikari took his phone and inspected the picture. At least it looked like Kamiko was having a good time on vacation. She hadn't talked to her at all since she left... which reminded her! "Oh my god... I turned my phone off right before I left. I completely forgot!"
She jumped out of his bed and ran over to the piano, where her little travel bag sat. Inside were her drumsticks, her notebook, a few little snacks, and finally, her cell phone. She got back on the bed and laid next to him as she powered the phone back on. 27 missed calls, 15 voicemails, and 36 text messages... all from Kamiko. "Damn... that's a lot of notifications," Crow said.
Hikari put her hand on her forehead, staring at the device in disbelief. How could she have forgotten to turn it back on? Was she having that much fun with Crow that it just never crossed her mind? "We haven't been apart this long in years... She's probably worried to death." She turned to look at him with an apologetic look in her eyes. She hated to ruin their nice morning with something like this, but she had to try to let Kamiko know she was okay. "I need to call her. I promise I won't be long."
He smiled and pet her hair. "I understand. Take your time. I'm not going anywhere."
She smiled back and kissed his cheek before relaxing into him. He held her close to him and played with her hair while he waited. She dialed Kamiko's number. The phone only rang once before the lioness frantically answered the phone. "Hikari!? Please tell me that's you! Are you okay? You're safe right?"
The sound of Kamiko's voice brought a smile to her face. "Yes, I'm very much okay, Kamiko. I'm really sorry... I forgot that I had turned my phone off when I left. I've been really busy this week."
Kamiko practically instantly broke into tears when Hikari started speaking. "Oh thank goodness... I've been so worried about you Hiki... You were so mad when you left... I just wasn't sure if you were going to speak to me again..." Hikari heard her sniffle on the other line. "Why have you been so busy, though?"
"Kamiko, don't think like that... I am the last person you should ever worry about leaving you. You know me better than that." She had an instant feeling of guilt the moment she realized she was crying. She felt like such a terrible, selfish person. "Well... I got our song finished. I just finished it yesterday."
"You did? That's great! I can't wait to hear it!" After a pause she realized there was something she hadn't told her yet. "Wait... Where exactly did you go?"
Crap... Hikari didn't think the conversation would make it to that... "Uhh... Well I met up with someone and we're staying at-"
"You met up with someone? Who is it? It's a boy isn't it!?" Kamiko immediately got excited at the thought. Was Hikari finally opening up to some boy?
"W-Well... Yeeaaah." Hikari braced herself for whatever comments Kamiko had next. The first thing she heard was her squealing on the other line.
"OHMYGAWD! Who is it!? Do I know him? You have to tell me!" Suddenly she gasped really loud. "No way! I know! It's Rom isn't it? You ran away with Rommie!" Kamiko giggled to herself as she thought about everything.
Crow, who could hear the entire conversation where Hikari was laying on him, stopped touching her hair and tensed up at the mention of Rom's name. Everyone at BRR always predicted that if anyone would end up hooking up, it would be Hikari and Rom. There was just some sort of chemistry the two had when they were together that just made them fit. He hadn't even thought about what could possibly happen when they left the farm and went back... Did she like Rom that way? Was there something Kamiko knew that she was hinting at...?
Hikari noticed Crow's reaction to the question and snuggled against him to comfort him. Kamiko was one of those people who wanted her and Rom together, even though she told her many times that it wasn't happening. "No Kamiko. I have no reason to be anywhere with Rom right now. Just... don't worry about who it is. We will talk more when I get back to BRR, okay?"
Her response to Kamiko's question reassured him that there was nothing to worry about, which made him very happy. She really could be his. They weren't a couple yet or anything, but at least he had a chance to make it happen.
Kamiko huffed a disappointed sigh. "Fine... You're not off the hook, but we will talk about this later."
Hikari chuckled. "Alright, I promise." She hung up the phone and rolled over so she could face him. "I'm sorry about that. She gets a little too excited and jumps to conclusions sometimes." She placed her hand on his chest and put her head back down. She felt so at peace laying there with him.
He quit playing in her hair and wrapped his arm around her. "Thank you for that..." he told her, then chuckled lightly to himself. "I never thought I'd get to this point with you. I'm so lucky..."
She looked up at him again from where she was laying. "You keep telling me how lucky you are that I'm here... I'm not... really anyone that important. I'm just Hikari, drummer of Monochrome Blush..." she said with a shrug.
Not important? "What are you talking about?" he asked, sounding like he was offended by her saying that.
"I'm really not all that special. I'm not the kind of person that people get excited over. I'm the kind who gets left behind or forgotten. I mean, if you were here with Kamiko, then I'd understand you feeling that way. She comes from a famous family and has already been in a successful band as a kid. She's really cute and everyone likes her, and-"
Crow flipped her over so that she was on her back and he held himself up over her. "Hikari... Don't talk like that." He gazed down at her with a serious look on his face. One that sent chills down her spine. "You are important. You are extremely talented when it comes to writing music and playing the drums or piano. You're passionate, you're kind, you're strong..."
He lifted his hand to brush her hair out of her face, which made her shiver. "You're beautiful, sweet... perfect." He lowered his body to bring his face closer to hers and gently kissed her once on the lips. "You may feel like you aren't special, but you're wrong. When you're around, I feel like I'm in the presence of an angel..."
Hikari's eyes filled with tears as he spoke to her. How could he feel so strongly about her? No one had ever said such nice things about her. She was absolutely speechless.
"That is why I feel so lucky to have you here with me. It wouldn't have been the same with anyone else." He smiled down at her using the same hand as before to wipe her eyes. There were so many things about Crow that were much different when they were alone compared to when he was with his friends or bandmates.
Still unsure of what to say, she reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down onto her to hug him tightly. How was it possible for him to be so perfect? Just hearing the things he had to say made her feel a lot better about herself. It seemed to be so easy for him to make every last one of her worries fade away.
"Crow... You're too sweet. I'm sorry, I don't know what to say. I'm not used to getting complimented like this," she said in a muffled voice into their hug. It was a nice feeling, to actually be wanted by someone.
He smiled and kissed the top of her head. "There's nothing you need to say." He then sat up and took her hand to pull her to sit up with him. "We should probably get up before my parents come to drag us out of bed. They are early risers, so the fact that we slept in so late is probably going to drive them crazy!"
"Oh!" She pulled the covers off of her and was quickly reminded that she was only wearing her short silk nightgown. She looked around the room and realized that all of her clothes were in the other room. She actually came to his room dressed like this. Oh god... what would his parents think if she left his room like this? She pulled the covers back over herself to cover her body. "U-Uhh... Crow? I'm not exactly dressed," she said with an embarrassed laugh.
After slipping on his own clothes, he turned around to look at the flustered female. He had completely forgotten. "Ohh... Wait right here!" He hurried toward the door and peeked out in the hallway. It seemed like his parents were both downstairs. He waved for her to come to him and whispered for her to go ahead. He planned to go down and see them while she got ready.
She thanked him and quickly rushed off to the room she was staying in to find something to wear. She threw on a long t-shirt with leopard print and lace at the bottom, with a pair of black leggings and sat down on the bed. This was the first time she had really been alone since the events that had happened the night before. What exactly had gotten into her? This wasn't like her at all. She was never really one to fall so quickly for a guy that before this trip, she really didn't know that well. But now here she was... She couldn't stop thinking about him.
She really wanted to call Kamiko back and tell her all about it, but how exactly would she react? Kamiko was constantly getting on her case about Rom. She definitely looked up to the guy, but it wasn't like anything was going to happen with him. But Crow... He was definitely something else. Hikari had always had trust issues, but she felt so comfortable opening up to him about everything.
Down in the living room, Crow and his mother sat, talking. "Sorry for not being up early enough to help with the cattle, Ma. Everyone stayed over pretty late last night, so we were pretty tired."
"I know," she told him with a small smile on her face. "I heard you two come in last night. I also recall hearing Miss Hikari leaving her room last night and never coming back."
Crow blinked with a bit of a shocked look on his face. "Wh-What? She wasn't in her room last night? How crazy... I know she's in there right no-"
His mother interrupted him by placing a hand on his leg. "Sweetie, you are both adults. There is nothing wrong with her staying in your room with you if that is what you are both comfortable with."
The hedgehog breathed a sigh of relief. He had never exactly had a girl stay over before. "Thanks, Ma."
She gave him a warm motherly smile. "I'm glad you've made a friend that makes you so happy. You've seemed very cheerful since you got here, you know." Her face went from sweet to serious. "But that doesn't excuse you from not helping out this morning. Don't forget that you promised to visit every couple of months to help out when you left for the big city."
"Yeah, I know. I didn't forget, Ma," he told her. When he was younger, his parents wanted him to grow up and take over their dairy farm when he was older. But ever since then, he had always dreamed of being a rockstar. At first, his parents didn't take it all that well. They didn't believe that there was a way to have a successful future playing music.
The night he told his parents that he was actually leaving for Midi City, it resulted in a pretty big argument with his father. He was told that if he left that night, that he wouldn't be welcome back. It took a lot of thought, but he just knew that he couldn't give up on his music. So hours later, Crow and his Red Tomahawk were on the road.
While he wasn't speaking to his father, he still made sure to call his mother once a week to check on both of them as well as the cows. Leaving home like he had was probably the hardest thing he had ever done. His family was very important to him.
It took some time, but she was eventually able to talk his father into forgiving Crow and allowing him to come back home. By this time, Crow had just been signed to Banded Rocking Records and Shingancrimsonz was officially formed. It felt so nice to come back home for the first time and have such good news.
Since then, he and his father didn't get along quite like they used to, but in an attempt to make it up to him, Crow had promised his mother that each time he came home to visit, that he would do whatever he could to help out on the farm.
He stood from the couch. "I can still help with whatever needs done today. Just let me know what you need."
At this time, Hikari finally came downstairs and entered the living room. Crow's mother looked to her and smiled. Really, it wouldn't hurt anything to give Crow a bit of a break this time around, considering he had very special company with him, but she knew just what to have him do. If he took her with him, it would be an excellent way to spend some alone time together.
"Why don't you two go out and get some vegetables for dinner?" she asked.
Crow turned around and realized Hikari was standing behind him. It didn't take her long to get ready at all, yet she still looked so pretty... He blushed just a little before turning back to his mother and kissing her cheek. "We're on it, Ma! We will be back in plenty of time to help start dinner, too."
A big smile grew on Hikari's face. Sure, she never had a mom to cook with, but when she was a child, she loved helping Kamiko's butler in the kitchen.
Crow took her hand and lead her out of the living room. "Is the grocery store far? Should we head over to the bus stop?"
He only chuckled and grabbed one of his mother's yard working aprons. "We aren't going anywhere. My family grows everything they need right here on the farm!"
Hikari's eyes brightened at the sound of it. His family really was amazing... She absolutely loved the idea of working for everything and earning it on your own. She took the apron and quickly put it on. "Lead the way, Hoglet!"
Out in the vegetable garden by their home, laughter filled the air. A basket full of carrots and potatoes sat on one side of them. Hikari lay on the ground, completely covered in dirt, while Crow sat next to her absolutely spotless.
"I can't believe you did that!" Hikari said between giggles.
Crow reached his arm over to lean over top of her with a smirk on his face. "You deserved it! If you would've stopped teasing me, then I wouldn't have done it!"
Hikari continuously made jokes to him about how digging vegetables out of the ground must have been so easy for him, since he was short and close to the ground as it was. Even if he was just a little taller than her, she couldn't resist making the jokes, since it was something everyone always teased him about when they were at BRR. The look on his face when she joked with him was too cute not to continue.
To get her back, he took handfuls of dirt when she wasn't looking and let it fall right on her head. Normally, Hikari would have gotten really angry at such a thing... She would start shouting and hitting... But everything was different with Crow. She spit a bit of dirt out of her mouth and fell back laughing.
He chuckled at her and wiped some of the dirt off of her face. "I'm sorry, Hikari. We can go inside and get you cleaned up."
"Fine..." She sat up, still laughing and kissed him. The moment he closed his eyes to return the kiss, she took a handful of dirt and got the side of his face. "Oh no... You have a little something on your face, Hoglet!"
"Aww come on! Not my face!" he whined, which only made Hikari laugh harder.
"You deserved it!" she told him, repeating what he said earlier. "Now let's go! You're just covered in dirt!"
He stood and took her hand to help her up, then grabbed the basket. From the window, Crow's mother watched to two walk back. She couldn't stop smiling at how adorable they were together. She loved seeing her little Crow laughing and carrying on with Hikari the way he was.
When they walked back inside, she took the basket from Crow and told them both to go wash up if they wanted to help her with dinner.
Crow's family and Hikari all sat down to dinner together, and talked just as they had each night since they had got there. They never seemed to run out of things to talk about. But this time, Hikari did most of the talking.
"I just love that you grow your own food. It's so much different than what I'm used to, but I would love to do it sometime. I have a flower garden at Kamiko's mansion, where I grew up. There are about 10 different types of flowers there that I grew all on my own!" The garden was much larger than she made it sound, too. Some of the flowers planted included large rose bushes that surrounded a basketball court that Sebastian set up just for her. When Hikari was younger, while she wasn't playing music, she was outdoors playing. The garden was like her little hideaway for when she wanted to be alone. She would either tend to her flowers or play basketball with herself, and sometimes Sebastian if he wasn't too busy taking care of Kamiko.
Crow watched Hikari with a smile on his face. He loved hearing about her life, whether it was the good stories or the sad. Knowing that she loved the outdoors made him very happy. Even though farming wasn't his choice for a career, it was something he still enjoyed very much, and it would be nice to bring her back again. The fact that his parents seemed to like her so much told him that it was very possible.
When dinner was finished, Hikari helped Crow's mother put everything away and did the dishes for her. When all the work was finished, she met Crow up in his bedroom.
Moments before she entered the room, the hedgehog was pacing around the room with a thousand thoughts running through his mind. What exactly was he going to say to her? And how was she going to react?
Just when he heard her knock at his door, he jolted out of his thoughts. He opened the door to see her smiling up at him. He loved that smile of hers... "Come on in," he told her just before taking a seat on the futon. He was so nervous, that he couldn't stop tapping his foot.
She closed the door behind her and sat down next to him with a chuckle. "What are you so jittery for?"
"Ahh... well you see..." He took a deep breath and sighed. He could do this. If he could sing in front of thousands of cattle, then this should be easy. "I really like you, Hikari, and I... just wanted to see where you think all of this is going. Are things still going to be like this when we get back to Midi City?"
She sat in silence for just a few moments. This was the question she was hoping she wouldn't have to answer until the time came. The truth was, she wasn't completely sure she knew where things were going to go with them. She liked him a lot, too... but back in the city she had two jobs, one of them being her music, which took up most of her time. Did she even have time for a relationship? Would their friends approve? And what about his fans?
"Crow…" she started, which made the poor hedgehog's heart sink. "To be honest with you, I'm not so sure I know. How could we possibly make it work back there? If everyone found out, you know we'd never hear the end of it..."
He sat up straight and took her hand. "Yeah, but I'm okay with taking that chance. I think you're worth it."
She smiled, feeling her face heat up a little. "Thank you, Hoglet... I just think it will be too hard."
Hikari looked up to him the moment he let go of her hand, suddenly feeling guilty. He looked so upset… Maybe she wasn't handling this the right way. "Then what exactly are we doing?"
"I... I don't know. But do we really need to figure it out right now? Why is this suddenly such a big deal to you?" she asked, sounding a little more harsh than she had planned.
He turned to face her, but had a hard time looking her in the eyes. "Didn't you hear me? I said I really like you... I was kind of hoping this was going to go somewhere after we left and not just be something we pretended never happened."
Hikari stood up from the futon. She had never dealt with anything like this before and was unsure how to take it. "I just... I don't want things to get weird between us. I can't risk the chance of ruining our friendship." She reached for his hand but he pulled away. "Okay... I guess I need to give you some time. I'll just... see you in the morning."
Before Crow could even look up again, she was gone and he was alone in his room. He sat down on the edge of his bed and sighed. He should have been a bit more considerate. Asking Hikari to be his girlfriend was a little more complicated that he thought. It would stir up a lot of questions the moment they got back, and she had enough stress there as it was. He couldn't let himself add to that... but he did want to be able to make her happy.
He put his head in his hands and stared at the floor... where he saw the little plush of himself that they had playfully fought over the night before…
Hikari sat on the floor of the other bedroom practically in tears. What was she doing? Crow had been so wonderful to her and she just turned him down... even though that was the last thing she actually wanted to do.
He told her exactly how he felt and admitted that being with her was worth getting teased by their friends. He said all of that... and she didn't even tell him how she felt back. She didn't tell him about the butterflies she felt when he stared at her with those amazing crimson red eyes... How just thinking about him made her smile... How his kisses made her feel like she was on fire... How just being in the same room as him made her the happiest she has ever been...
Damn it! She was so angry with herself.
Suddenly, there was a quiet knock at the door. She quickly wiped her eyes and stood to answer the door, and found Crow standing there with the plush in his hand.
"I knew that when I saw you didn't have this that you might have a hard time sleeping... so I thought I'd bring him to you. It would have been a long, lonely night for him too, if I hadn't, so... here..." He held the toy out to her and Hikari looked up to him, feeling the tears welling up again.
Rather than taking the plush from him, she leaned in and wrapped her arms around his body, pulling Crow into a tight hug. "I really like you, too, Hoglet. Please... don't be mad at me. I want to make this work, but I..."
His eyes grew wide when she hugged him, not at all expecting her to say such things. Out of respect for her, he didn't even plan on bringing it up. He held her close to him and pet her hair. Hearing that she liked him just as much as he liked her was a huge relief... but she was still so hesitant.
She buried her face into his chest. "I'm worried about how everyone will take it."
He pulled away just enough to see her face. "Why does that bother you so much? Are you embarrassed of me?"
"No! Not at all. It's just... I know how Kamiko is going to react and I don't want that to make things weird. I don't know if you know this, but she liked you at one point, and... what if she still does? And what about your friends? I already feel like Aion doesn't like me, sometimes, and Rom gave him that big speech when he and Kamiko started dating about how much of a distraction she is to him and that we are just a couple of fangirls..." She spoke so quickly, that he only understood parts of what she was saying to him. To stop her, and calm her down a little, he placed both of his hands on her cheeks and made her look at him.
"You've put a lot of thought into this, haven't you?" He chuckled to himself just a little and kissed her forehead. "I'm really sorry for pushing all of this on you. If it makes you feel any better, it's not something we have to tell everyone right away. I don't want this to stop when we go back to the city."
She stared at him for a moment. Was he saying he wanted to keep their relationship a secret for a while? She was silent for a few long moments, but finally, she smiled. "Okay... Let's make this work. I really want to be with you." He really meant a lot to her, even just after the short time they were on his farm together. He had done so much for her and made her really happy. She couldn't possibly give something like that up.
With his hands still on her face, he stared deeply into her beautiful green eyes. Hearing those words made him feel incredible and he couldn't stop thinking about how badly he wanted her. His stare made her heart beat faster to the point that she thought it might explode. He pulled her in, pressing his lips to hers, gently. The warmth of his mouth sent a current running through her body.
At first, the kiss was small. But then it grew bigger, and more intense. She slipped her hands up in his shirt, craving the feeling of his skin against her own as he pushed her against the wall. She gasped as her back hit the hard surface. He pulled his lips away from her own and trailed his kisses down her jaw and neck, her warm skin driving him crazy.
Hikari could barely breathe through it all. Her mind was clouded, but a voice inside her head made an attempt to speak reason to her. She opened her mouth to speak through her shaky breaths. "Crow... We can't forget that your parents are in the room just below us..."
He reluctantly pulled away from her with a sigh. He was so worked up after all of that, but didn't want to push her any further if she wasn't comfortable with it. And she was right. The room she had been staying in was directly above his parents' bedroom. It really wouldn't have been the best idea to get too physical up there. "Sorry... I wasn't exactly thinking."
She chuckled a little, finally catching her breath. "I'm not mad. That was... wow," she said. She couldn't only imagine what it would have been like if she had let him continue. Just that little bit of affection she got from him there made her feel like she was on top of the world. She gave him a small kiss on the lips and whispered to him, "So... you do realize you can't leave me alone after all of that, right?" She winked, and tried her best to hold in a smirk when she realized how hard he was blushing.
In one quick motion, he picked her up in his arms, catching her completely off guard. She let out a bit of a yelp before laughing to herself. He carried her down the steps to his own room, and kicked the door shut behind him. Gently, he put her down on his bed with a smile. "There... Now you don't have to be alone. I'll be right here with you for the rest of the night." He hovered over her with a smile.
"You're the best," she told him while playing with his tie.
"Believe me, I know," he responded, just before getting pulled down to her by his tie. The gesture had his face completely red. He never suspected that was where she was going with that. Missing the feeling of his lips against hers, she kissed him again.
After sharing a few long, passionate kisses, they happily fell asleep in each other's arms.