Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon

What is he doing? The brunette thought to herself as she stood on the pathway leading to the beach in the pouring rain. "Hey!" She called out, "You're gonna catch a cold you know!"

The person sitting on the pier with a fishing rod in hand turned towards her voice and grinned. His distinctive purple headband revealed to the brunette that it was Denny.

"You do realize you can't get mad at me for being out in the rain when you are too," He pointed out a bit smugly as Chelsea got closer, wet sand sticking to her boots. "What are you doing out here anyways? You almost never come around during the afternoon." Denny was used to early morning visits from Chelsea, as she was often too busy running around the islands in the afternoon. The fact that she specifically sought him out in the pouring rain lifted his spirits a bit despite the miserable weather.

"Well I finished taking care of my animals early, so I decided to go for a walk. Then it started raining, but I would've been soaked by the time I got back to my house anyways," She shrugged. "So I decided to see what you were up to." She smiled, "Catch anything?"

Denny sighed. "Nope," He turned to look at the unruly ocean. "I would've taken my boat out but I'd really rather not go for a swim today." Denny stood up and stretched. "Well since we're both soaked, we can dry off at my place if you want. I can get the fire going." He picked up his fishing rod and brushed off some sand.

Chelsea considered his offer for a few seconds. "Nah." Denny frowned, looking slightly offended, and opened his mouth to object. Then Chelsea laughed, catching him off guard. "I'm kidding!" She elbowed him in the side. "Come on, I think it's starting to rain harder now."

"You're a good cook, Denny," Chelsea commented, eating her sashimi. Her legs were folded on a faded mat in Denny's house in front of the fire. "I can't cook to save my life."

Denny snorted. "I wondered why you always avoided the cooking festival like the plague. Thanks though." Denny glanced up at the roof, listening to the pounding of the rain against his house. "Sometimes I'm afraid this shack will collapse in the next storm."

Chelsea nodded sympathetically. She was aware of Denny's living arrangements. "If you want," She offered, " You can stay at my house during the next big storm. Blizzards can't be any fun."

"You don't know the half of it." He threw another piece of firewood in the fire. "Are you sure, though?"

"Of course!" She glanced around at all of his fishing gear. She wondered what her life would be like if she lost her parents when she was young. Having to fend for yourself with no support. It was, Chelsea decided, likely one of the most lonely things in the world. She turned to see Denny staring at her intently. It was as if he was reading her mind.

Chelsea noticed Popper's head sticking out underneath Denny's shoe. "I think Popper's hungry," she commented.

"Hungry!" Popper agreed. Denny offered a piece of his fish to the bird.

A thought popped into Chelsea's head. "Hey. How did Popper learn to speak anyways?"

Denny glanced at his bird. "I'm not sure. I found him injured on the beach one morning before I was going to go fishing. So I took him home and fixed him up. I guess he just caught on as he heard me talking. He is pretty smart though."

Chelsea held out her hand, and Popper fluttered onto it. She pet him with one of her fingers. "So Denny's your favorite person huh?"

"Yup!" Popper chirped happily.

Chelsea eyed him suspiciously. "And what do you think about me?"

"Popper loves Chelsea!" He responded immediately. "But not as much as Denny does!"

"Popper!" Denny exclaimed, shocked. Chelsea's eyes widened and she blushed, as Popper flew off her hand and hid behind Denny.

Denny's face was red. "Sorry Chelsea..."

"No, uh...It's fine..." she laughed nervously. She picked at the rest of her sashimi, but her appetite was gone due to the butterflies in her stomach. They sat in an awkward silence for a few minutes.

Chelsea coughed. "Well, I, uh...I better get going. It's getting late." She said as she stood up, taking the time to brush imaginary dust off of her shorts.

"I'll walk you home," Denny offered immediately.

Chelsea looked at her boots. "Oh, um, you don't have to. But thanks." She smiled a bit.

Denny crossed the room, grabbed a coat, then stopped in his tracks and turned around. "Stay here," Denny commanded his bird with a bit of a glare.

They walked in silence for a while. Chelsea concentrated on the bright autumn leaves that still insisted on clinging to the trees despite the downpour. "Well, so much for staying dry," She said as she listened to the squish of her boots on the pathway and pushed her streaming hair out of her eyes.

"Are you cold?"

"No," She lied. "I'm fine." She felt Denny's jacket being draped onto her shoulders anyways. She frowned. "I'm not made of sugar you know. I'm not going to melt in the rain." Then it started to rain harder, much to her disbelief. She pursed her lips and stopped complaining. Denny smiled to himself.

They made their way across the bridge to Chelsea's ranch. Slipping a few times in the mud and tripping around with the poor visibility, they finally made it to Chelsea's house, laughing. They stopped outside of the door, and Chelsea turned to face Denny. "Well thanks for inviting me over. It was nice," she said genuinely.

"It was no problem," He scratched the back of his head. "Chelsea, I'm sorry about what Popper said. I mean, sometimes he talks so much and he exaggerates a lot and-"

Chelsea looked hurt. "Oh, so you don't love me?" She crossed her arms over her chest protectively.

"What? No, I-I, um..."

Chelsea started laughing at Denny's attempt to backpedal. Then he started laughing too, albeit nervously. "I really hate it when you do that," He smiled. His smile faded as he locked eyes with Chelsea. Her lips parted slightly and she blushed. They both leaned forward, tentatively. Then their lips met. Chelsea's arms were thrown over his shoulders and Denny's hands went down to her waist. It was everything either one of them hoped it would be. Too soon they broke apart.

"Good night Chelsea."

"Good night Denny," She whispered, and her door closed with a soft click.

Denny started to make his way back to the bridge, his head in the clouds. He didn't even care that Chelsea still had his jacket, he hardly remembered anyways.

Denny hadn't been able to confess his feelings towards Chelsea for weeks now, not even to himself. Then Popper blurts it out right in front of her and somehow everything turns out right? Denny couldn't believe it, but he definitely owed his bird now.

Despite being drenched and a good 15 minutes from his house he sighed happily. "Thank you, Popper."

I've had this written for a few weeks now but I've never had the motivation to put it online. I always second guess my writing, just a silly weakness of mine I guess.

But anyways, there needs to be more Denny and Chelsea. Denny isn't appreciated enough D:

Reviews are appreciated, but obviously not necessary ^^