Author's Note/Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon, Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility, or Harvest Moon: Animal Parade, its characters or franchise; those belong to Marvelous Interactions/Natsume. I also do not own any part of "Tell Me" by White Lion, including the lyrics or song title; those belong to White Lion, obviously. Also, in this story I refer to the mainland as Castanet. I understand that in Animal Parade the place where your character lives is called Castanet, and that in essence it's the same as Waffle Island from Tree of Tranquility. While this is so, keep in mind that the Castanet in this story is not the same as Waffle Island, meaning the characters and shops featured on the actual Animal Parade Castanet will not be featured in this Castanet (did that make sense?); this story is more along the lines of Tree of Tranquility. Thanks!
"We held each other tight, and ran away into the night, oh baby you were so afraid."
-White Lion, "Tell Me"
Everyday her belly become rounder. Each morning she would stand sideways in front of her full-body mirror and sigh, knowing she could not keep this secret from her parents for much longer. Great, just graduated high school four months ago and now I'm knocked up. Luke promised her he had a plan, but she still worried.
"Don't worry about it baby," he smiled. "I'll take care of you."
"You make it sound so easy." She said with a roll of her eyes.
"Hey, nothing is easy about this situation. But since I'm…well, figuring out a solution, we'll be fine in no time." He grinned, and she sighed. To make the situation worse, Angela's parents absolutely abhorred Luke, claiming he was just another wild-child good looking boy who will enter Angela's life and leave it just as easily. They claimed he wasn't reliable, wasn't responsible, and thus wasn't worth her time. They had big ambitions about Angela's future: she would go off to college, just like her parents, become successful, then settle down to an equally educated and accomplished husband, period, end, no more discussion. But as many in the real world would vouch, sometimes life doesn't go the way you expected it, and Angela hadn't just become impregnated with Luke's baby, but had fallen fast and hard for him.
"Luke, damn it…" she buried her face into her palms, her unbalanced hormones once again getting the better of her. Tears began to drip from the small part between her fingers. He came up, and wrapped his arms around his grieving partner, rubbing her back soothingly.
"Hey, have I ever made a promise I couldn't keep?" she shook her head against his shoulder. "Then just leave everything to me." He planted a kiss to her temple.
It wasn't until a month later, Angela's stomach growing each day, her wardrobe of baggy clothing lax, that she heard a ladder click against her bedroom window, midnight. She didn't know what to make of it at first—Damn! I'm gonna get murdered!—until she saw Luke's head emerge over the window sill. He tapped on the glass, and she made her way, as quickly as she possible could, and opened the window.
"Luke! What on earth are you doing here?"
"I'm here to get you." Dumbfounded, Angela couldn't respond. "We're leaving this town for Waffle Island."
Waffle Island? Oh Luke…Angela knew all too well about Waffle Island. A pleasant oasis of an island, though with its share of difficulties, still a nice place to live or visit. However, it was also the same place Luke ran away from, away from his father whom he had become estranged from in Luke's brief two-year run on Castanet. Luke had wanted to do something other than becoming a carpenter, wanted more than what the struggling island had to offer, but his father completely disapproved, telling Luke that if he left he couldn't come back.
"Why Waffle Island?"
"Because I know the place and it seems the cheapest location to get away from your parents." Luke knew all too well how Angela's parents felt about him, that he was holding their daughter back.
"But your father…"
"Hey, no matter what he says, I know he'll let me resume my position at his shop. Besides, it's obvious that my employment status isn't much to behold on Castanet, and I need to take care of you and our child."
Tears began to well up in Angela's eyes, and she couldn't help but let them spill over. She leapt (or how much a pregnant women could) into Luke's arms, wrapping her own around his neck, driving her stomach into his. He would never admit this to anyone, as in Luke's opinion it sounded kind of cheesy, but he loved the feeling of his unborn child inside Angela's stomach. Not that he didn't want the baby to never be born, but still. "Come on," he pulled away from her lovingly. "You gotta pack. We leave tomorrow at noon. I bought the ticket for that time since I figured you couldn't make it down a ladder from a second-story window. Just give me your bag now, and we'll meet at the dock tomorrow."
This is mad! This is wild! This is so much like Luke. Nodding, she ran over to her closet, pulled out a beat-up old duffle bag, and began stuffing clothes into it.