This is just a short one shot I wrote to pass the time. Hope you all like it!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon or any of its characters...sadly T.T
Chase's POV
"Chase!" Kathy called from the other side of the counter. I wiped my hands on my apron and turned around to face the excited blonde.
"What?" I asked with an arched eyebrow.
"Happy birthday!" She squealed as she revealed a colorfully wrapped box from under the counter.
My eyes widened slightly and I slowly took the present from her hands. For a few seconds I just stared down at it and then looked back up at Kathy to see excitement emitting from her green eyes. "C'mon! Open it!" She urged.
I looked back down at the light box in my hands and with a sigh I began to rip the paper off. I opened the box and saw a piece of bright blue clothing lying at the bottom. Taking it out slowly I unraveled it and held it in front of me.
"An apron?" I asked.
"Yeah!" Kathy exclaimed, "I had Luna make it especially for you! Look at the front, there're some words here!"
"What'd you ask her to wri..." I stopped talking as soon as I turned the apron over. There, in large, yellow letters were the words "Kiss the Cook" sewn onto the front of the blue cloth with a red heart next to the "k".
I stared at the thing for a few more seconds then turned to glare at Kathy who was holding her hand over her mouth to prevent herself from laughing. I could see tears starting to collect in her eyes from struggling to keep the laughs in, but right before I could start yelling, the bar's doors opened up and Molly stepped in.
"Good afternoon, everyone," she called in her quiet, yet cheerful voice. However her gentle smile was soon replaced with a look of confusion when she saw what i was holding.
Blushing, I quickly rolled the stupid thing into a ball, went over to grab Molly's hand and dragged her into the pantry with me.
"Look, it's not what you think, okay? It was Kathy! She got me this thing for my birthday and..." I just went on ranting like that for God knows how long until I noticed Molly was laughing.
Embarassed I stopped babbling on like an idiot and just stared at the shelves full of food, waiting for her to stop laughing.
Slowly her laughs receded to giggles and she started talking while trying to stop her laughter, "Sorry. Hehe, I'm sorry. It's just that ahaha, I wasn't expecting that at all."
"Neither was I," I grumbled, looking down at the wrinkled up apron in my hands.
"I'm sorry," she said again, this time without any giggles sprinkled in, "I shouldn't be laughing at you on your special day."
Molly slid her rucksack off her shoulders, reached in and took out a plastic container with a bow on top, "I made them this morning only using the best products from my cows and chickens and the best oranges I could find from my orange tree. I hope you like them." She held out the container for me to take.
I took it and opened it to see it was full of orange cookies. I took one of the container and took a bite out of it. After chewing on it for a few seconds I swallowed and looked up from the cookies to see Molly staring at me with a hopeful expression.
I chuckled and held the container out to her, "Take one." She smiled and took one and happily popped the entire cookie into her mouth. Her appetite almost reminded me of Maya's sometimes. Thankfully, that was the only thing they had in common. Maya was a loudmouthed crybaby who couldn't cook even if everyone's lives depended on it. Molly on the other hand, was quiet, polite, quite a chef and kind to everyone. Even me.
"So how was it?" Molly asked. I smiled at her, "It was pretty good."Her face split into a smile, but she giggled all of a sudden.
"What?" I asked.
Her hand reached out and brushed across the corner of my mouth a couple of times. "You had some crumbs on your face," she said.
Even with the crumbs gone, she didn't retract her hand from my face. Instead she cupped my cheek and stroked it gently with her small, rough hands. Slowly she stepped forward until the small space between us was gone. I looked down and let myself sink into her deep, chocolate colored eyes. As her face lifted towrds mine I started to lean down to meet her half way.
Just when my lips gently brushed across hers, a loud knocking sound came from the pantry door.
"Chase! C'mon!" Kathy called from the outside, "You guys can have plently of alone time when your shift if over! Get to it, birthday boy!"
I groaned and let my forehead press against Molly's. She let out a small laugh and moved to give me a soft peck on the lips. "Don't worry. I'll stay until your shift ends. Then we can go and spend pletny of time at my house."
I smiled at her words and wrapped my arm around her waist to give her a hug while my other hand held the cookies and kissed her once more. "Thanks."
She smiled up at me and wrapped her arms around my neck and whispered, "Happy birthday, Chase."
