A/N: Hello there! So, uhm, this is my first try in writing a Harvest Moon fanfic. I'm not quite sure if it's going to turn out fine. But I do hope that you give it a try.
First of all, I want to thank HmGirly and Jean Cooper. They don't know it, but they're actually the ones who inspired me to write a Harvest Moon fanfic. I absolutely love Starting Over (HmGirly) and My Favorite Color (Jean Cooper). Thank you for inspiring me and thank you for the amazing stories you wrote.
There are some scenes here that I wrote for the first time. Like the kissing scene. I've never described a kissing scene like that. It might sound forced and awkward.
This was supposed to be a one-shot, really. Claire was just supposed to choose between the two bachelors, but gah. This happened. Although I'm glad that I wrote something like this. It seems so mature.
I'm rambling. Haha. I hope you like it.
Word count: 2163
Without further ado, here's Chapter One of Rugged Boy!
Rugged Boy
By TheMaskedGirl
"Shit, I'm late," a certain blonde farmer cursed as she emptied the contents of her rucksack on her bed.
She glanced at the clock.
9:00pm
She grinned. "Well, it seems I'm not that late. I've still got an hour to prepare."
A small brown dog yapped in response.
"You agree too, March?" she asked her pet dog. "How about you, Cindy?" She looked at the black cat sitting beside her television set. The cat just looked at her.
She giggled to herself. She rummaged at the mess on her bed until she found her wallet. She checked and saw that she still had enough cash in her wallet for drinks. She also took the jewelry, a blue bracelet, a pink necklace, and a rose-shaped brooch. She placed it in her sack.
She left the sack open and went to her closet. She took her sky blue dress, a dress she saved for this occasion. She also took the necessary undergarments and walked to the bathroom.
"We meet again, my darling Claire," the silver-haired thief said smoothly, paralyzing the blonde farmer on the spot.
"I-I'm-"
"Hush, my darling. I believe that fate has drawn us together. Do you believe that too?"
"I-well," the blonde farmer stammered. "I-I'm doing Griffin and Muffy a favor. I'm going to catch you, thief."
"Can you do that, Claire?" the thief purred.
Claire remained silent.
"I thought so," he said. He flashed her a smile.
"S-stop!" she said. She found him handsome. She adored him. But he's a thief and she promised to help catch him.
"He's not here! Where is he?" they heard Muffy, the barmaid, whine from outside.
"Let's go in," Griffin, the owner of the Blue Bar, suggested.
"It looks like they'll be in any second now," said the thief. "It's time for me to go. See you soon, Claire."
The farmer was still in a paralyzed state. The thief walked to her and whispered, "By the way, sky blue suits you very well. It matches your eyes."
She smiled at the memory. "My phantom thief," she whispered.
She got in the bathroom in a daze and showered.
9:37pm
The blonde farmer emerged from the bath, dressed in her freshly picked dress. She walked to her shoe shelf and picked a pair of black sandals. She wore it and stood in front of her mirror.
Her dress was strapless and ended above her knees. The bottom part was frilly and shiny.
She sat on the chair in her vanity table and started curling her hair.
9:58pm
Claire looked stunning. Her hair was in bouncy curls, kept in place with a silver clip. She applied a bit of make-up and her neck was adorned with a beautiful silver necklace with a cat pendant.
She stood and walked to the shelf beside her bed. Inside it was a blue feather, sitting proudly amongst the other items.
She took it with and care and placed it on her sack. She closed it tightly and took it.
"I can do this!"
10:15pm
Claire whistled a cheery tune as she made her way to the Blue Bar. She will meet the silver-haired phantom thief there.
She passed the rather large Inner Inn and the bar came into view. As she neared the infrastructure, she slowed down and stopped whistling. Her heart started beating fast.
She opened the door and the bells on it jingled.
"G'evening, Claire," Griffin greeted in a loud voice.
She smiled at him and greeted him, just as loud. "Good evening, Griffin. Have you seen, Muffy?"
"She's at the back, I reckon," he said.
"Thank-"
"More!" Claire's sentence was cut by a very drunk Rock. The blonde boy tapped his mug on the bar. "More! More! More!"
Griffin chuckled and fixed Rock's drink. He set it in front of the boy.
Marlin stood in the corner, sipping his drink quietly, observing the chaos erupting inside the tiny room.
Twins Patrick and Kassy drank their heads off beside Rock, laughing at everything.
"Yooou looook beautifuuul toniiiight, Claiiire," said Patrick, his voice slurred.
Claire giggled. "Thank you, Patrick."
Gustafa played his guitar in the corner, beside the door, making merry music. Beside him sat Nami, his girlfriend. She smiled broadly and held a half-full mug.
"Is someone with her?" Claire asked Gustafa. She went near the bar to hear him properly.
"As a matter of fact, yes. I didn't see who though," Griffin replied and pointed to his wild customers.
Claire sighed with relief. It was just as planned. He was safe.
The people inside got drunker and louder. "I'm going to the back," Claire shouted over the ruckus.
Griffin nodded and went back to fixing an impatient Rock another drink.
She opened the door to the backroom. It was empty.
The confused farmer bit her lip. "Where are they?"
She heard noise coming from Muffy's room. She smiled and climbed the ladder.
Without hesitation, she opened the door. She was greeted by the sight of a curvy girl with blonde curls and a tall, good-looking, silver-haired man in a heavy lip-lock.
Her heart pounded. She felt tears forming in her sky blue eyes. She closed the door quietly and went down the ladder. They didn't even notice her. She sat on Griffin's bed, small curled fists on her lap.
"Skye?"
"Yes, my dear Claire?"
Skye and Claire lay in the flowerbed beside the Goddess Pond.
"Do you love me?" Claire asked. She shivered.
"Are you cold?" he asked.
"Yes, but-"
Skye wrapped an arm around Claire, protecting her from the cold. "Talk not, darling. You know the answer," he answered softly.
Claire smiled. "So you love me?"
He didn't answer.
"So you do?"
He still didn't answer, but he continued to hug her.
She assumed that he did. He didn't say yes, but he didn't say no either.
"I love you, Skye," she said softly.
"I know you do, my angel."
The door creaked open and down came a smiling thief and a flustered-looking Muffy.
"Oh, Claire, you're here!" Muffy squeaked. "We've been waiting for you for ages."
"Yeah, sorry about that," Claire answered coldly.
The barmaid smoothed her red cocktail dress. "Well, I need to go and help Griffin now. I'll be back in a few. Have fun!"
Claire raised her head in time to see the girl wink at Skye.
"You look beautiful, as always, Claire," Skye said. He kissed her cheek and sat beside her.
"Aren't you going to talk, my love?" Skye asked her after a few moments of silence.
"Do you love me, Skye?" Claire finally asked. Her eyes were brimming with tears.
"I thought you already know the answer to that, love?" Skye asked, confused.
"Stop acting innocent, Skye. And no, I do not know the answer. Tell me, Skye. Do you love me?" Claire asked, her voice rising an octave higher.
Silence.
"Well?" she shouted.
"Yes," he said quietly.
"Liar!" she said sharply. She held back her tears. I am not weak.
"But I do, Claire. I really do," he said. He took her hands.
Claire removed her hands from his grasp and stood. "You don't, Skye. You don't," she said venomously. "If you do, you wouldn't kiss that... that bitch!"
Skye laughed. "You saw that?"
Claire gasped. "How-how can you laugh?"
Skye stood and curled his arms around the enraged farmer. "Because you're wrong, my love. She forced me to kiss her, darling. I didn't want to do it, but she told me that she'd tell the others that I'm here. I could have left, yes, but you might think that I stood you up."
Don't believe him, Claire. Don't believe him. He's a smooth-talking thief. You'll just get hurt, she thought.
"So you allowed her to kiss you?" Claire asked, disgusted.
"Of course not! I did not kiss her back, did I?" He tucked a stray curl behind her ear.
"You... didn't," she said. Claire wasn't sure. She was sure he did kiss the barmaid back, but now that he denied it, her assumption seemed ridiculous.
"Do you believe me then?" Skye asked her with a smile.
Claire bit her lip. "Yes."
Skye held her chin and raised her head. "You look absolutely radiant tonight, my sweet." He lowered his face and kissed her softly.
Claire didn't protest and kissed him back.
He nibbled Claire's lower lip, begging for entrance. She complied and parted her lips. He tastes like... apple pie?
After a few minutes of intense kissing, they broke apart, in need of air.
"You're a good kisser, darling," Skye whispered sexily. He started kissing her temple, then her ear. He nibbled her earlobe, her soft spot.
She gasped. He continued kissing the farmer, down her neck, her shoulder...
Knock! Knock!
Claire pushed Skye away, alarmed. "Hide!" she whispered hurriedly.
Skye kissed her on the lips one last time and went under Griffin's bed to hide.
The door opened. It was only Muffy.
"Where's Skye?" the barmaid asked.
Claire stopped herself from shouting at the seductive woman. It's none of your business. "I told him to hide. Someone might see him," she answered stoically.
Muffy sighed. "Yes. That's why I knocked, to signal that I was coming in."
What's it to you? "Thanks, I guess."
"No biggie!" She said with a big smile. "Oh, and Skye, you can come out now."
Bitch. "Yes, love, come out now."
Skye crawled out. He stood and dusted his silver top and purple pants. Claire stood beside him and held his hand. He's mine.
"We're closing in twenty-five minutes," Muffy informed them.
"What?" Claire asked.
"We're closing in twenty-five minutes," she repeated slowly.
Claire glared at her. She turned to Skye. "What time is it?"
"10:35," Muffy answered.
"Thanks," Claire said and rolled her eyes.
Muffy grinned once again. "You're welcome, Claire!"
"How are we going out?" Claire asked Skye.
Before Skye could answer, Muffy said, "Oh, I already thought of that. In fact, Skye and I rehearsed what we're going to do earlier while we were waiting for you."
"Great."
"Yes, it's a brilliant idea," Skye agreed.
"See?" Muffy said, the smile never leaving her flawless face.
Claire eyed the vase on Griffin's bedside table. If you don't shut up, I might have to shut you up myself. The image of an unconscious Muffy flashed before her eyes and she grinned evilly. She clapped her hands together.
"Uh, Claire, my sweet, are you alright?" Skye asked worriedly.
She smiled at him sweetly. "Oh, yes. I've never been better!"
Muffy gulped. "Uh, so, back to what I was saying, I'm going to distract Griffin and the customers."
"How exactly are you going to do that?" Claire asked, bored.
"Oh, just wait and see," Muffy said with a wink.
If she winks one more time, I swear.
"Once the boys start hooting, that's your signal to go out," she continued. "They would be too distracted to notice the both of you. Besides, they're also drunk."
"You seem to have forgotten that Nami's there," Claire said, trying to find a fault in Muffy's plan.
"Nami and Gustafa left minutes ago. They always leave the bar thirty minutes after ten," she said nonchalantly.
"What if your plan backfires?" Claire asked.
"Do you have a better one?" Muffy asked, still grinning.
Claire clenched her jaw and shook her head softly.
"That's what I thought," Muffy said. "Remember when they start hooting, go out."
She winked at Skye and went out of the room.
Claire stiffened and Skye squeezed her hand. "Darling, it's alright. The plan will work."
She winked at you, Skye! She winked at you! That's the problem!
The boys outside started hooting, signaling for the two to leave the room.
Claire went out first to check if everyone was indeed preoccupied. They were.
Muffy was dancing on top of the bar. Her blue cardigan was on the floor and all she was wearing was her revealing red cocktail dress.
Claire pulled Skye out of the room and they raced to the door. Skye whistled softly, which annoyed Claire greatly.
She turned and saw Muffy wink at Skye for the third time.
11:20pm
They were sitting in the flowerbed talking and laughing. Skye had his arm around Claire who was leaning on him.
"I love you, Skye," Claire said.
"Me too," Skye replied.
"Oh, I was supposed to give you something," Claire said. She took her rucksack which was sitting few inches from them. She opened it and brought out the jewelry.
"I was mining a few days ago. I know you absolutely love these, even if they're meant for girls," she said shyly.
He took them from her and placed them in his pocket. "Thank you, love."
He kissed her again. This one started fiercely. He pushed Claire to the ground, his lips never leaving hers.
They parted for a minute to get some air and then Skye tackled Claire's soft lips. This time, she was the one who bit his lip, begging for entrance.
A/N: Ta-da! Thank you for reading. I hope you liked it. Eeep. I still can't get over the fact that I wrote something like that. Haha.
I really hope you like it. What do you think about Claire? Muffy? And of course, the pretty boy Skye? (winks)
I'm sorry for the errors!
Please leave a review!
Thank you!
Love lots,
TheMaskedGirl