DICLAIMER: I do not own Harvest Moon. If I did, I'd be sure to marry Allen and Neil at the same time and slave drive them. :)

AIRCONDITIONER

He didn't expect a woman in his house today. And he definitely didn't expect for that woman to want to stay the night. And he didn't actually expect her to insist that they sleep on the same bed.

Neil stared at the blonde woman sitting beside him on his black bed sheets. For all he knows, something bad always happen when a man and a woman stayed on the same bed. That's why his mother always told him never to invite a woman in his room.

"Neil, is everything okay..?" The woman, also known as Rio, asked him with glassy, wide blue eyes.

He shook his head. "No…" He muttered.

Rio cocked her head to the side and pouted at him. "If you're so uncomfortable with me being here, I wouldn't mind staying on the couch…"

"No! I mean, I'm not uncomfortable at all!" He said so fast that she was unconvinced with the answer.

"Look, if there's something troubling you—"

"No! Really, there's nothing troubling me. Geez, Rio! Just go to sleep!" He said with a high tone and collapsed on his bed.

Neil settled at the left side of the bed, edging so far that one more move will make him fall. Rio stared at him with an uncertain expression etched on her face and sighed. She then curled up in the far right corner of the queen sized bed, making their distance uncomfortably far.

Neil pondered for a moment on his side of the bed; he didn't know what to do. In movies, scenes like this always lead to something… unexpected. And the girls liked it, too. But then again, his mother always told him to avoid intimate contact with women…

But then, that was when he was four.

He sighed a deep one and frowned. As Rio's boyfriend, should he go near her and cuddle? Or is it better to leave her be to prevent losing control over himself and lead to unexpected err… reproduction? For a minute, he thought of bunches of blonde kids running around the house, beaming cheekily as they played with the animals… Neil's face flushed a deep red and he pulled the comforter above his cheeks, trying to block his reddened appearance from no one in particular.

Just as he was about to fall asleep, he had the certain annoying feeling that something was off. He actually took seconds to think about what it was when it clicked to his mind. He's sweating. He got out of the comforter and crawled carefully towards the center of the bed, providently moving so that his girlfriend would not be awoken. He stopped at the middle and reached up him, to where the aircon lies. He switched it on and turned the temperature to level twelve, the coldest. Then, he went back to his space and rested on top of the comforter, thankful of the coldness welling in the room.

A couple of minutes later, Rio shivered under the comforter. She held it tight to her body, hoping that it will lessen the coldness. When her attempt failed, she sat up the bed irritably and felt the air. 'Definitely an air conditioner…' She said to herself.

She looked around the room, hoping to spot the offending machine. Then, her eyes rested on Neil, who had one hand above his head and another on his chest. His legs were sprawled wide. Rio chuckled and peeled her eyes off him, keeping in mind to take a picture after she turns off the darn aircon. Then, her eyes finally settled on the white rectangular machine. She smirked in victory and went near it. She flipped the switch off and then went back to her sleeping, completely forgetting about the picture.

Neil shifted uncomfortably. Something was off again. He felt his arms around, desperately feeling the coldness around him. But when all the chilliness faded away, his ruby eyes snapped open and he sat up with a growl. His eyes shifted from Rio, who had her back to him, to the air conditioner. He frowned and went up to the machine and flipped it on.

Rio, who felt the cold again, rose up to turn it off. Neil, on the other hand, felt irritated at the lack of presence of the cold. He turned it off again and this time, waited by the aircon. Just as he expected, Rio went out of the comforter and to the machine. Before she had the chance to switch it off, Neil caught her hand and yanked her to him.

"Just what do you think are you doin'?" He hissed at her.

Rio glared back up and tried to pry his hands off her, to no avail. "Turning it off."

"No shit, Sherlock."

"Then why did you ask?" Rio said to him and rolled her eyes.

Neil's left eye twitched and he neared his face to hers. "Look, I need the cold temperature."

"Then I need the warm temperature." She snapped back.

He shook his head impatiently and flicked her forehead. She winced and sneered at him. "This is MY house. The rules are mine." He hissed at her.

She gave him a stubborn expression and yanked her arms off. She folded it together and looked up at him. "I'm the guest. Guests should be treated with respect."

"I don't give a damn about the rules, woman." He growled.

Rio just stared at him with her big crystal blue eyes. He stared back with his blood-red ones. They just kept staring like that until she broke it with a giggle. Neil raised an eyebrow at her.

"What?" He asked.

She gave another giggle and flicked his nose. "You are just so cute." He blushed at that. "And I remember that that is one of the reasons as to why I love you." Se cooed at him.

He turned even redder and turned his face away from hers. "You're just saying that to win."

Rio stared at him with a frown. "No I'm not. I don't use my love for you to get what I want…" With that, Rio crawled to her side of the bed and hugged the comforters along with her body in desperation.

Neil gritted his teeth at himself. 'Damn, now I made her sad…' He said to himself and then sighed. He went up to his side and forced himself to sleep, but he couldn't. He then turned around to face Rio's back. He felt a pang of remorse in his heart and remembered all the times when he was rude to her. And yet, she still loved him with all her heart. Then, he thought of something that he would not do except for today.

He moved like a caterpillar horizontally and to the center of the bed. Then, he reluctantly shook Rio's shoulder under the covers. It was cold. He felt even guiltier and shook harder. "Rio, Rio…" He whispered.

She shifted and moaned. "… What?"

Neil blushed at what he was about to say. "Err… If you're cold then… uhm… We could… ahh… cuddle?" He choked out from his voice box.

When he got no response, Neil started to sweat despite the cold. 'W-what the hell did I just say? What if she thought I was a perverted rapist or somethin'?! Goddess, what the eff did I just do?! Is this the end of our—'

He was cut off from his paranoid thoughts when Rio turned to him with her big, glassy eyes. "Really?" She asked in a whisper.

He nodded reluctantly and stared at her. "Really!" He blurted out.

Rio chuckled and went near him. She forced herself into Neil's arms and sighed contently in it. He awkwardly cradled her, not knowing what to do next.

A minute passed and he still didn't know what to do. He lied frozen in his spot, looking desperately at something else and trying to ignore the feeling of Rio's breasts pressed against him when she suddenly talked.

"Neil?"

He tensed up and looked down at her slowly. "Yes?"

"I love you."

He flushed once again, his heartbeat started racing twice as fast. He couldn't control it anymore. This is too much. He loosened his hold on her and lifted her chin to face him. She was staring back with loving eyes, with shades of red also spreading through her face. He touched her forehead with his and sighed contently. "You know, you're the first one to talk to me without flinching. I got attracted to that. You're the first one to ever have the courage to talk with me without shying away. I loved that. From then on, I always awaited your arrival. Then, I craved for it. That's when I realized that I started obsessing over you…" He whispered to her.

He saw her grin, and then he realized what he just said and turned away. "W-what the hell?! What did I just say?! Gah! This is embarrassing…"

She giggled at him and poked his cheek. "Hey, hey. There's no need to be embarrassed. To be fair, let me confess something to you." Neil looked at her. "Whenever I had girl talks with Yuri, I'd always talk about you. How you're so strong, how you're so cool, how you dress like a J-Rock artist, how you love animals so much, and how you're so cute when you blush." She said, and then he blushed harder. She giggled again and continued. "And just earlier, to be honest, I fantasized about you and me having kids, running around the house and playing with the animals."

Neil's mouth opened in shock as he stared at Rio's red face. "I-it's not just me who does?"

Her face went from astonished to a big grin and nodded. "I guess so. Umm… I don't think I mind having kids now…"

His eyes widened at her, she gasped and cupped both her cheeks with her hands. They are now blushing like mad.

He then closed his eyes and pretended to bear an irritated face. "Sheesh! What is wrong with you?" He said with a badly pretended tone.

Instead of shying away like he usually does, though, what he did was quite unexpected. He held her closer to him and slung his left leg over her hips. He stroked her hair lovingly and she sighed in content.

They stayed just like that, knowing nothing will happen. It feels good, not being afraid of opposite genders sleeping in one bed, that is. After all, Neil finally knew that nothing wrong is bound to happen, as long as the woman with him is an angel known as Rio, of course.

But he wouldn't mind having ten blonde kids running around the house…

Please review, favorite, or whatever the heck. XD Thank you for reading this NeilxRio fanfic. :)

Cheers,

MysticForest44