"Come on! Hurry up, if we wanna play we gotta start now! It's almost lights-out!"

Laney pushed her friends up the staircase to her room, eager to start their Starry Night festival traditions. After everyone had their meals and the adults had brought out the alcohol, the kids of Bluebell retreated to Howard's Cafe to spend the night and, of course, play games.

"Careful Laney! Hold your horses, girl!" Georgia tried hard not to trip over Ash as she half tumbled-half ran up the stairs.

"Yeah! You're going to end up breaking something!" Cam said.

"Probably one of my limbs!" Ash cried.

"Oh you. Calm down and hurry up!" Laney finally succeeded in herding her friends upstairs. "There we go!"

"I don't understand why you're in such a hurry, Laney." Ash wandered over to her room. "We'll have plenty of time."

Laney crossed her arms. "But I want maximum playing time! This is the only night of the year we can all get together, so why dawdle around?" she dashed into her room and jumped on her bed.

Georgia entered next and took her place next to Laney on the bed, and Cam followed and sat on the floor next to Ash. Laney clapped her hands together and beamed at her group of friends.

"Alright! Are we all ready to start the festivities?" Laney asked. She scanned her crowd – Georgia gave a nod of approval, Cam shrugged his shoulders and Ash gave her a thumbs up. "Great! Now begins the annual Truth or Dare games! And remember, what happens in this room..."

"Stays in this room," the other three teenagers said in unison. It was the same drill every year. Everyone knew that what went on during these games was top secret.

"Let's make this a night to remember! Now, who wants to go first?" Laney asked.

Georgia raised her hand. "Oh! Let me! Cam, truth or dare?"

Cam rolled his eyes. "Oh, sure. Pick me first. Truth, I suppose."

The red haired girl thought for a minute, placing a hand on her chin. "Darn, I'm never good with thinkin' up these truth things. How about your most embarrassing moment, Cam?"

A couple of moans filled the room, and Georgia frowned. "What? Is that a bad question?"

"No... it's just so... over used!" Ash said. "It's been the first question asked every year now, so we all know it by now."

Georgia crossed her arms and huffed in disappointment. "I thought it was a pretty swell question..."

"Here, Georgia. I'll help you think of one. I am the master of these kinds of questions, after all!" Laney rested a hand on her friend's shoulder, and a mischievous grin played on her lips. "Alright Cam... who was the last person you've seen naked?"

The reactions from the other players were just what Laney had expected; Georgia muffled her giggles with her hand and Ash mockingly nudged his friend's side.

"Oh man, I wanna know this!" Ash teased. Cam swatted him away and rested his hand on the back of his neck.

"...are you sure everything stays secret here?"

"Of course! Cam, you've been playing with us how many years? When have we ever spoke of the events here to another living soul?" Laney rolled her eyes. "You gotta let loose and make this game fun!"

Cam sighed. "Alright. Well... it was Rutger."

Now this lead to even better reactions in Laney's eyes. Poor Georgia's eyes were wide with shock, and Ash fell backwards from laughing so hard. Cam covered his eyes and shook his head.

"Now how does that happen?" Ash choked out between his fit of laughter.

"I was just out on the mountain looking for some wild flowers, and there he was in the river... he said it was nice to get out and... embrace nature completely. Something like that. I don't know, old people are weird."

After a few moments, Laney found herself laughing at Cam's little experience. "I'm so sorry you had to endure that. But you see Georgia? We want questions that will draw out amusing answers like that!"

"Kindly noted!" Georgia nodded. She still seemed a bit surprised, but she'd get over it soon. "Alright Cam, your turn!"

Cam cleared his throat and thought out who to chose as his victim. "Georgia. Truth or dare?"

"I reckon I'll take a dare," the redhead smirked. "I'll handle whatever you throw at me!"

"We'll see about that." Cam raised his eyebrows. "Go downstairs, grab a cup, and drink some toilet water."

"W-what? A cup?" Georgia had obviously underestimated Cam's dares. "Are you pullin' my leg here?"

"You could use a straw if you really wanted to."

"Wow Cam, I'm impressed. Jumping up to such high tiered dares in so little time!" Laney observed. "I like where tonight's game is going."

Georgia pulled at her friend's dress, a desperate look on her face. "He can't dare me to do that! Tell him he can't dare me to do that!"

Laney simply shrugged her shoulders. "Sorry, Georgia. But anything goes here. You're gonna have to follow through."

A look of pure horror overtook Georgia's face. Her only chance at avoiding this dare had completely backfired.

"Now, do you want a straw or a cup?" Ash asked. He seemed to be enjoying this game a bit too much.

"Just get me a straw and let me get this horrid dare over with!" Georgia snapped. She sulked against Laney's bed as Ash crept downstairs to fetch a straw for the dare. When he returned, Laney pulled on Georgia and lead her to the bathroom. Cam followed close behind, his hands in his pockets and a smirk on his face.

"Here you go, ma'am. One bowl of gourmet toilet water coming right -"

"Oh hush up!" Georgia pushed Ash out of the way and crouched down by the toilet. She slowly lowered the straw into the bowl and grimaced as she did. It wasn't dirty, just normal looking water, but the thought of what had been in there in the past... it was almost enough to make her vomit.

"We don't have all night!" Laney tapped her foot on the ground and waited for Georgia to get the show on the road.

She turned the straw around between her fingers and took a breath to prepare herself. She brought her lips to it, closed her eyes and took a sip. It didn't last very long at all, but as soon as Georgia swallowed she abandoned the straw and coughed. She swatted at her tongue and pushed her way out of the bathroom.

"That, my friend, was priceless." Ash slapped Cam's back in approval.

"Alright boys, back to my room!" Laney ordered. The three of them returned to see Georgia on Laney's bed, clutching her stomach.

"If I don't make it through the night, it's all Cam's fault." she declared.

"To bad no one else will know why you perished. What happens here, stays here." Cam pointed out. The remark earned him an angry glare from Georgia.

"My turn, then." she said. "Hm... Ash, truth or dare?"

"Give me a dare! Those seem to have a lot of potential tonight..."

As the night progressed, the dares became harder to execute and the truths became more embarrassing to fess up to. Of course, this much was expected, as all four of Bluebell's teenagers had brought their best game forward. They had all learned that Laney once had a crush on the gourmet from the cooking festivals, that Ash could not drink a gallon of milk in less than ten minutes (or keep it down in his stomach, for that matter), and that Cam could preform at least half a push-up with Laney on his back. The competition was tough for the longest time, but eventually their creative genius began to run dry.

"So it's Cam's turn now." Laney announced. They were slowly tiring themselves out – Georgia was slumped against Laney, Ash was sprawled out on the floor clutching his stomach, and Cam had his head propped up with his elbow. "Georgia, go ahead and ask him."

After giving a long yawn, Georgia spoke. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare, why not. You've pretty much learned all there is to know about me at this point."

Georgia rubbed her eyes and pondered what dare to give him. She had already used up all of her good ones... and she didn't want to upset anyone with something boring.

"You give Ash a big ol' smooch on the lips. How about that?"

They were silent for a while, until the dare sunk in. It was Laney's turn to get wide eyed, and Cam shot up and stared at Georgia open-mouthed. Ash on the other hand was still feeling sick, so he just groaned on the ground.

"Georgia! You... I didn't know you had this kind of thing in you!" Laney exclaimed. Georgia frowned.

"Don't tell me this is another bad dare, Laney..." Georgia sighed. "Because I can't really-"

"No, this is... perfect!" Laney said.

"There is no way I'm gonna kiss milk-boy over there." Cam scowled. "And besides, I'm not gonna kiss my best friend. That's just gross."

"Sorry! But once it's been said, it's to be preformed!" Laney said. "Georgia couldn't get out of any of hers, I couldn't, Ash couldn't... neither can you!"

"Shouldn't he consent to it too? I mean, it's not fair if at least he doesn't agree to it!" Cam said. That had to make some sense, right?

"Oh stop bein' a baby and just smooch him already!" Georgia cackled at Cam's distressed face. Laney hopped down and shook Ash's shoulder, trying to bring him to attention.

"Ash, honey, you need to sit up for a second." Laney coaxed him into a sitting position, and Ash groggily came to. He planted a hand on his face and groaned once more.

"Gosh, I feel like I got hit by a train..." he complained, but Laney took him by the shoulders and turned him to face Cam.

"Just sit still for a moment, alright?" Laney instructed him, and Ash gave a weak nod of his head.

Georgia, who had positioned herself behind Cam at this point, gave him a rough shove in Ash's direction. "Come on, you can't chicken out now!"

Cam tried to fight her off as long as he could. "You two are so weird for wanting to see this! I bet normal girls don't enjoy this kind of thing. Hey, get your hands off of me!" But Cam was no match for Georgia. She had a pretty nice build after working with horses and other animals from a young age, where as Cam's hobby for making bouquets didn't exactly give him much of an advantage in the strength department. She easily kept Cam in place, as did Laney, for Ash wasn't really in the mood to put up much of a fight.

The distance between the two boys was slowly getting smaller, and poor Ash still didn't seem to understand why he was being propped up by Laney, or why Cam was getting so close to him.

It was really no use to resist anymore. Cam knew he couldn't break free from Georgia's grasp no matter how much of a struggle he put up, and Laney had that determined look in her eye that showed this dare was going to happen weather he wanted it to or not.

He took a moment to prepare himself. Cam took a deep breath and focused on his 'target'. Ash looked confused as ever, and he smelled faintly of milk, much to Cam's dismay. He really hoped that doing this didn't make anything awkward between his friend and him. The sooner he got this over with, the better, so he leaned in and -

"Woah Cam! What are you-"

Ash had apparently decided that now of all times was a perfect time to get his head in the game. Cam reared back, only to bump into Georgia's face, and she gave him a firm smack on the head.

"Hurry!"

Cam placed his hands on Ash's face, breathed a quick 'I'm sorry', and brought his lips to the young rancher's. He didn't know what he expected it to feel like before he initiated the kiss, but it surprised him at how natural it felt. Ash's lips were soft and warm and Cam found the milky taste to be rather soothing. If it was any other person, and if he didn't also reek of vomit still, Cam probably would have enjoyed it.

In fact, he was enjoying it. He didn't seem to care anymore that this was his best friend, and he didn't care that it was all a dare, and he didn't care that Laney was squealing and that Georgia was flailing around behind him.

The kiss lasted way longer than Cam had expected it to. Cam also expected Ash to pull away or push him or kick or something of that nature, but...

He was kissing back.

Ash was kissing him back.

He was leaning into the kiss more and more with each passing second until Cam finally gathered the sense to break it off. The whole thing probably didn't last more than four seconds, but it sure felt like a hell of a lot longer.

Cam slowly opened his eyes only to see Ash staring back at him. Well, Laney and he assumed Georgia were also staring at him, but his attention was only on Ash.

"Um... sorry?"

Ash wiped his mouth and burped.

"I think that milk's coming up again..." He quickly stood up and hurried off to the bathroom.

"Cam... I..." Georgia placed a hand on his shoulder. "That was..."

"Cam, you made him vomit! I can't believe you're that bad of a kisser!" Laney complained. She excused herself as well and quickly followed Ash to the bathroom.

Georgia had that same shocked expression from Cam's very first truth he answered, only it was amplified by about fifty. "Oh Cam that was totally uncalled for on my part... I shouldn't have even joked with somethin' like that!"

"It's fine," Cam dismissed the thought. "It was just a game."

"Yeah, just a game," Georgia reassured herself. "Don't you worry, I won't speak of this to another soul as long as I shall live! I won't even tell my favorite horse, and I tell her everything!"

"Uh, thank you."

At this point, heavy footsteps could be heard ascending the stairs, and in a moment Howard's voice could be heard.

"Laney dear! I'm home~!" Howard called for his daughter, and Cam heard an exaggerated gasp. "Oh no! Ash, are you alright? You've made quite the mess in here I see..."

Cam chuckled a bit, and Laney hurried into her room. She lowered her voice and hissed "Remember, what happened here stays here," before Howard paraded into her room, Ash in tow.

"My my! You kids seem to have had a fun night! Almost a little too much fun, by the looks of it!" Howard supported Ash, who was wiping his mouth with a towel.

"Sorry I... you know." Ash apologized and burped once more.

"Honey, don't you worry one bit! This isn't the first time tonight I've had to deal with a few messes of that sort." Howard batted his hand and laughed. "Anyway, it's awfully late now. Jessica wants you home soon, Ash! And Georgia, I spoke with your father and he's fine with you spending the night."

"Thank you, Mr. Howard," Georgia said. "Laney, we should go get washed up for bed."

She lead her friend out the door and down to the cleaner first floor bathroom. Ash handed his towel back to Howard, and Cam stood up.

"I'll make sure he gets home safely, if that's alright." Cam volunteered.

"That's an excellent idea! How gentlemanly of you!" Howard teased. He helped lead Ash down the stairs, and as they passed the bathroom Laney and Georgia tried to contain their giggles. The trio reached the front door, and Howard handed Ash off to Cam.

"You two be careful, you hear me?" Howard said. "I know it's not far, but it's awfully dark, and I do worry about you..."

"Howard, we'll be fine." Cam assured him. He pushed the door open with his hip and half dragged, half lead Ash out onto the street. As they walked back to Jessica's place, Ash felt well enough to walk without Cam's support.

"Laney got what she wanted, all right. That sure was one heck of a truth or dare night, huh?" Ash said. The boys kicked through the snow, and Ash wrapped his arms around himself to keep warm.

"Yeah. It was certainly one I'm gonna remember." Cam tried to avoid Ash's eyes at all costs, but he was strangely drawn to his friend's gaze. The two walked in silence for a while, both shivering as they went.

"I'm sorry for making you throw up." Cam broke the silence.

Ash laughed."That wasn't your fault. Blame my small stomach for that."

"Actually, I'm really sorry about that entire last dare. I should have said no right then and there, and you weren't even feeling well for most of it,"

Ash shrugged and stopped walking for a minute. "It's fine, Cam. It really is."

"Are you okay? You wanna rest a bit or-"

"Like I said, it's fine!" Ash smiled. "But... you wanna play one more round?"

"Uh, sure. It's your turn, then."

"Truth or dare, Cam?"

"Truth."

"Did you like kissing me?" Ash tilted his head and waited for Cam's answer.

Was this some kind of joke? Ash was starting pretty intently at his face. Was he trying to get some sort of reaction from him? Was he going to make fun of him later? Was he going to broadcast it to the entire town?

He quickly dismissed those thoughts. Ash wouldn't do anything mean like that. He was his best friend, after all. Cam sighed and rubbed his hands together in an attempt to warm them up – and to calm his nerves.

"Honestly? I did. I thought it was... pretty nice."

Ash didn't respond for the longest time. He just continued to stare, worrying Cam in the process.

Oh no. Cam shouldn't have said anything after all. Why would he admit that he enjoyed kissing him? It was weird. Ash was just his friend. His male friend. Friends didn't kiss each other. Cam should have just hurried him home to prevent any mention of this topic. He should have let it die on its own, just let it fade into the background with all of the other events of the night.

Cam began to turn back to the cafe. "Sorry I... I shouldn't have-"

He was stopped suddenly by a pair of arms wrapping themselves around his waist. Cam awkwardly maneuvered himself to face Ash. There wasn't much of a height difference, so the two were practically nose to nose.

"I liked it too, Cam." Ash declared. "You're a pretty good kisser!"

"R-really?" Cam felt his cheeks grow hot, and Ash nodded. "You're being completely serious now?"

"Of course! What happened happened, so why hold anything back?" Ash said.

"You don't think any of this is weird? I mean, we're just-"

"I'd like to consider it a blessing in disguise. I mean, we could always forget about this and never mention it again. Like the truth or dare rules say. Or we could act upon it. I'm fine either way, so it's your call." Ash's arms were still firmly wrapped around Cam, and he slowly forgot about the bitter cold air.

"Act upon it like... kissing again?" Cam prompted. "Because I don't think I'd mind that. At all."

Ash smiled. "We could start with that. How about right now?" he leaned in for another kiss, but Cam cupped his hand over his mouth.

"Not until you brush your teeth, milk-boy." Cam chuckled. "I uh... there's gonna be plenty of time for that... later on." he wiggled out of Ash's grip and gently pulled him forward. "My main concern is getting you home safe, just like I promised."

"How gentlemanly of you, Cam!" Ash mocked him with a falsetto voice, but he leaned affectionately against him as the two continued across town.

Cam gazed up at the stars and smiled.

This was certainly one Starry Night he'd never forget.

-.-.-

AN:

Well looks like I'm back in the Harvest Moon scene! Excuse this word vomit, I need to polish up my rusty writing skills and there needs to be more fics for Cam and Ash!

Thanks for reading! Reviews are always nice :)

Icee Suicune