Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon or the poem "Autobiography in Five Short Chapters" by Portia Nelson used as inspiration for this oneshot.

Author's Note: I recently thought of a poem I studied back in my freshman year of high school, and I wanted to pen something in relation to it. In regards to the three chosen characters, I wanted to put someone who had no ill intentions and who was a generally nice guy in the 'villain' role to show that guys do not always purposely hurt girls (and vice versa in regards to gender). Sometimes you love someone and they hurt you continuously because they do not share your feelings, and it is up to you to get out of that situation. I wanted to write something that reflected that. I hope to write a much longer story using these characters and possibly this situation once I finish Admiration, but this is just a oneshot I thought up and wanted to write to break up the monotony of what I'm currently writing. I hope you enjoy it!

"I walk down the street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I fall in.

I am lost…I am helpless.

It isn't my fault.

It takes forever to find a way out."

Cliff was the first to welcome Claire to town when she arrived, and became her definition of 'first' – first to give her a tour of the town, first to remember her birthday, first to escort her to a festival, and, soon enough, her first love. His shy act peeled away like warm coats in summer weather, until the boy Claire knew was a boy who was kind, clever, and never afraid to tell her something. She could not blame herself, then, for thinking his feelings for her were the same as hers for him. If he did not love her, why would he speak to her so boldly and then cower when Ann came into the room? He clearly could not trust the smiling redhead, who seemed so intent on breaking through the shell Claire had easily wormed her way into, and yet could easily trust the naïve farmer who saw him as her sole friend.

"He's got a thing going on, you know," the blacksmith began one day, late into the fall, after she had gone through hell and back to ensure Cliff had a permanent position at Duke's Winery. "With Ann, I mean. He likes her."

"And you're telling me this…why?" Claire hadn't meant for the words to sound cruel, but they were – they were cruel because Gray had to be lying. Cliff couldn't say a single word around Ann. He could talk to Claire for long hours into the night, both of them leaning against her shipping bin and watching the stars as they talked about life in the city and life in their isolated town. If in her mind was floating that familiar head of messy hair while he contemplated braids and bad cooking and the teasing lilt of the redhead…she couldn't take it. So she didn't. She rolled her eyes at Gray, who mumbled that he was only trying to help, and went to meet up with Cliff.

They leaned against the shipping bin that night, staring out at the sky. The stars covered them like a blanket, making the words stick in her throat. It was too warm and safe and secure to start up a conversation with him about Ann. She didn't know where to go about starting.

Cliff began it for her. "Do you…er, do you think Ann is going to go down to the beach this weekend, with Karen and Rick and Mary and Gray?"

Claire glanced over at him, trying to hide the frown forming on her lips. Even with the sudden coldness she felt, her words still had to be choked out as if she was just waking up. "What do you mean?"

"It's just, er, I heard Karen talking about how it would be like a double date, and she invited Ann, and I was thinking…if Ann went, and I went…well, then, it would be like a triple date, wouldn't it?"

The warmth of that fall day evaporated entirely. Throughout winter, Claire carried that conversation like a chain around her shoulders, causing her to hunch over and rub her hands up and down her arms. Thoughts of Cliff kept her from regaining any body heat, and seeing Ann walk around with a new smile on her face made her hate the girl for no good reason. Cliff stopped coming by as often, frequenting the Inn during long hours of the night instead. When Claire passed by, Gray stood in the doorway, glancing at her with a near sympathetic grimace. She kept on walking.

"I walk down the street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I pretend that I don't see it.

I fall in again.

I can't believe I am in this same place.

But, it isn't my fault.

It still takes a long time to get out."

It was the last day of winter when he approached her for something unrelated to business for the first time in ages. With the familiar slump and frown that Claire had grown to know him for in the early days of their friendship, Cliff loped over towards where she sat on the summit of Mother's Hill and dropped down beside her. He didn't offer anything more than a, "'Lo, Claire."

Lingering frustration gnawed at the blonde, instructing her to give him the cold shoulder. She did not. She acted as though nothing had happened between them at all, offering up a bright smile. "What are you doing over here? Shouldn't you be at Rose Plaza with A…everyone else?"

He was quiet for a long time – so long, in fact, that Claire began to wonder if he would ever speak to her again. The sun was setting, and she was sure the feast was an ongoing celebration several hundred feet below them. It would be the talk of the town for the first few weeks of the new year. Cliff did not seem particularly interested in any of this. Finally he turned to Claire, heaving a great sigh, and said, "Ann and I got into a fight. Something pretty stupid. Gray and Mary had a falling out and then we took sides."

Claire felt a familiar ache in her chest that caused her to drop from her crouch onto her backside. She felt that she no longer had the strength to hold herself up. For just a few moments before he had spoken, she had let an overwhelming hope warm her body from head to toe with the idea that he had come not seeking comfort, but seeking her– that he had come to spend New Year's Eve with her, like a date. The warmth was not so quickly dashed this time. Now that he had announced there was trouble in paradise, it blossomed. Her breath hung in the air like a cloud, but left her hands burning when she held them to her face. "I'm sorry," she lied. She lied because perhaps that apology would lead to more, would lead to him seeing her as something more. "So she sided with Mary and you sided with your roommate. That's rough."

"No," Cliff let loose one harsh laugh, shaking his head. "Other way around. Mary and Gray argued over whether or not it was alright to be friends with someone who had feelings for you. Mary said it's no big deal, and it is important to continue that friendship rather than make the other person feel uncomfortable. Gray said it's better to let the friendship take a break or you're only hurting the other person and making it worse. I thought…well, you know, say…say you liked me all along. I wouldn't stop being your friend because then how would you get over those feelings? That's what I said, but Ann said that wasn't how things worked. I didn't think it'd blow up into such a big deal."

Claire felt her cheeks with her fingertips and pulled away at the heat. Flaming cheeks in the midst of winter were a dead giveaway. Luckily for her, Cliff was staring down at Mineral Town instead, a glum expression hanging on his handsome features. "That's…well…"

"What do you think?" Cliff interrupted, turning to her so fast she nearly slapped herself to cover the evidence of her insinuated crush. "Would you agree with Gray or Mary on this one?"

Her lips were chapped, and she licked them as she thought, running her tongue over the valley of wreckage. Somewhere in the heart of the New Year's Eve party, Ann was waiting for a kiss on lips that were well taken care of for her boyfriend. Claire was here with him instead, wondering what it would feel like if he were to kiss those chapped lips of hers instead. She decided to tell him one more lie. "I would agree with Mary – with you. I mean, if I did have feelings for you, you just ignoring me would make me feel bad. It'd be better if I was just given time to heal."

He grinned, setting his hand on her knee. "Thanks, Claire. I'm sure Ann will get over it soon. It's just that it's our first fight and, I dunno…I just wanted to be right. Knowing you feel the same way as me makes me feel a little bit better. But I guess I'll have to go swallow my pride and tell her that I'm sorry, right?"

Claire stared at him, the crestfallen expression impossible to hide. Even after all her kindness and openness to him, he was leaving her? Even though she was right beside him, agreeing with him, and Ann was still celebrating their disagreement and hadn't even bothered to follow him and attempt to make up? Claire felt a desperate urge to take the boy by his shoulders and give him a wild shake – to part those chapped lips and scream right in his face, "No, that's not what you should do! Fighting over someone else's fight is stupid! If she made it into a big deal, then she's stupid!"

But she did not, because Cliff did not give her a chance. "Thanks for the talk, Claire," he told her, patting her head and then ruffling her carefully done blonde hair. He left her a disheveled mess, offering one beaming wave as he headed down the mountain path. Ann was likely dressed up beautifully for the event, wearing pretty lipstick with her hair done in curls. Claire wrapped her coat tighter around her shivering shoulders and hiding her overalls. It did not matter that winter was almost over. She would never be warm again. She licked her lips once more and then pulled her jacket about her face as well, closing her eyes.

A sudden warmth dropped onto her shoulders, and she spun to see Gray standing in a t shirt behind her. His heavy winter coat stopped her shivering. "Pretty lonely up here by yourself, isn't it?" he asked, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Why don't you come down to the Rose Plaza with everyone else? They'll head up here again when it's darker."

But Claire merely shook her head. Gray was not the person she wanted to spend New Year's Eve with, but he plopped down beside her with an enormous sigh. "Alright," he answered the silence. "Then I'll sit out here with you."

"I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I see it is there.

I still fall in…it's a habit…but, my eyes are open.

I know where I am.

It is my fault.

I get out immediately."

The beach's opening day was a commemoration of more than just the summer season – it reveled in Kai's grinning return to Popuri's side, sand so hot beneath your toes it sent you running into the water's embrace, food so delicious the taste lingered with you through the following seasons of scorching soup and hot chocolate, and so much more. It was a party for popsicles and Frisbees and especially for bathing suits and shorts and t shirts, which were out in full force. Ann was wearing a spectacular red bikini that she looked mortified to be in. Claire sat off to the side on a bench near Kai and Popuri's heartfelt reunion, unfazed in her blue shorts and oversized black shirt.

Gray sat next to her and she let loose an annoyed sigh that couldn't have gone unnoticed. He remained unfazed as well. "What do you want?" she demanded, deciding that in dealing with Gray one had to take harsher methods.

Still, he did not move. "Sitting down, Claire."

"Ha, ha, ha, very funny. Look, don't you have a girlfriend you should be with or something, rather than sitting here on the loser's bench? Mary is out there wearing an adorable bathing suit and she's Goddess awful at swimming, so you should-"

"Mary and I are no longer together," Gray replied, holding out a soda that he had pulled from his pocket. Even in the summer heat, Gray wore his uniform. Claire took the soda because she wasn't sure what else to do, and opened the can with a satisfying crack.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

Several moments passed in which Claire watched Mary dog paddling through the water beside a rather frustrated Ann and even more annoyed Cliff. Hope shone through in her every feature – she leaned forward with an eager air, hands clenching the can so tightly it began to crackle inwards, face red from allowing the glare of the sun to strike it directly. It was a cruel desire to watch Ann be publicly dumped or washed away by the waves or anything, anything that would heal her wounded heart and stop the miserable ache she felt every time Cliff even spoke to her. Anything would do.

"Claire, I-"

"Cliff!" Claire rose to her feet, pounding after him as she saw him heading towards the exit. Gray slumped back in the bench, shaking his head. The sand burned the soles of her feet, and the steps were even hotter when she reached them, but the boy was not waiting – he continued his ascent into the emptied town, his steps lumbering and his face down. "Cliff, wait up!"

The blonde did not reach him until he was nearing the Inn, where she finally let her soda clatter into the dust and caught his arm. The now equally hot liquid dripped onto her toes and left them sticky as she stepped closer to him. "What's wrong? Why didn't you wait for me?"

"Sorry," the boy mumbled, avoiding her eyes. "I'm just not in the mood for talking, Claire."

"But…did you and Ann break up?"

Cliff looked up at her, his eyes wide. The wave of despair that struck Claire jolted her every sense. She was suddenly acutely aware of the taste of the bitter soda on her lips, the glaring summer heat boiling her skin, the now distant smell of the sea, the sound of the laughter at the beach and especially of the shocked look on Cliff's face that told her no, no he had not broken up with Ann – that thought had never crossed his mind.

"Of course not!" he exclaimed. "Sure, we got into one fight, but that would never be enough to break us up. I love her, and she loves me. There's nothing that's going to change that. Did I make it seem like I was very mad at her?"

Claire felt his concern as he took her arm, squeezing it gently. She gritted her teeth and forced a smile, shaking her head. "No, you didn't. You just seemed upset, so I was worried something happened. I'm glad it didn't though. You and Ann…are really meant to be together."

Cliff smiled at her and then said, "Claire…you always know just what to say. Thanks for that. You want me to get you another soda? It looks like I made you drop yours."

She glanced down at the now empty can and thought of Gray's kindness that she had tossed aside. Perhaps, if Cliff was able to give her another can, it wouldn't look as though she had deposited his show of compassion like trash. She could return to his side and hear what he had meant to say while trying to suppress the pain she felt. "Sure. Thanks."

He disappeared into the Inn with a nod, but more footsteps sounded behind the blonde. She turned, expecting to see Gray with a look of disdain on his face – shaking his head at her for following Cliff, for seeking him out, for loving him despite the blacksmith's consistent warnings. It was a different face that looked at her now – red cheeks and hair that was forced back into its braids despite being sopping wet and a nervous smile on her lips. Her kind, honest lips that had never spoken a word against Claire despite Claire's constant mistreatment of her. Ann smiled and said, "Did you really mean what you just said, Claire?"

Claire wanted to say no, but she couldn't. She had meant every single word. A couple that could fight and still be constantly aware of the importance and depth of their own relationship to the point where it was never threatened – that was something to admire. "Yeah. I meant it. I'm happy for you two."

It was in that moment that she knew Ann was fully aware of her feelings for Cliff and began to admire her even more. The expression of sympathy and gratitude revealed seasons of guilt and worry for a girl who had spurned her every gesture of her friendship. Claire looked at the redhead for a moment and then smiled, gesturing to the way she was attempting to cover herself up. "I have a top for your bathing suit you might like. It's the same color as your bottom, but covers you up a lot more. If you're feeling a little uncomfortable…"

A lesser person would have lied and paraded around in their bikini to ensure they didn't have to accept help from a girl who had openly displayed feelings for her boyfriend. Ann was not that kind of girl. Her smile was as forgiving as Claire's was apologetic, and she replied, "That would be great."

Cliff returned with two sodas – one for each girl – and the trio started the walk to Claire's farm, where Ann would receive her new bathing suit top. Cliff shyly apologized to Ann and then said he liked the way she looked in her bikini, "but, you probably look just as beautiful in Claire's top – you look beautiful in everything you wear."

Claire knew that the pain would linger, and didn't cringe at the blow these words came as. She grinned at Ann's blush and opened her new soda with a pinprick of a different hope from before. Perhaps there was someone at the beach still waiting for her.

"I walk down the same street.

There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.

I walk around it."

On the sixteenth day of summer Claire approached the Inn with hesitant steps, peering carefully inside. Noting the absence of the smiling redheaded waitress, she dashed inside and hurried up the stairs into Gray's room, which he had long since deserted. Cliff was waiting with a grin. "She'll be out for a couple hours, so we can use the kitchen. Doug said he'd distract her by taking her out to the city for a bit."

Truffle rice and strawberry milk were new recipes to both of them, but they hastened to pull several recipe books from the cabinet and pour through each direction. Ann's birthday, they agreed, had to be perfect. For Cliff, this was the first time they would be celebrating it as boyfriend and girlfriend. For Claire, it was her chance to show Ann that she truly valued the friendship they had been developing. If this meal went off perfectly, and they were able to present their joint effort, Claire knew that Ann would smile and accept that there was nothing to worry about anymore – and that was truly, truly, truly what Claire wanted.

"Truffle rice needs truffle and rice balls…and then what?" Cliff asked, laughing a little. It was nervous, however, and Claire crossed the kitchen to stand beside him and examine the recipe opened before him. "Do you know how to make it, Claire?"

Claire stared determinedly down at the book and then set to work forming rice balls. Cliff watched her, looking hesitant. Every action he did to help her was tentative and doubtful, and Claire felt the intense need to prove she knew what she was doing, that she wasn't trying to mess up this present in the slightest. When she had finished with the rice balls, she began to mix the truffle in carefully and deliberately. The finished meal looked just like the picture, and she displayed it with a triumphant grin.

Cliff's eyebrows shot up in approval and he clapped her on the shoulder. "That's incredible! I didn't know you were so good at cooking. Thanks, Claire. If you weren't here with me, I would have been too stupid to just set about mixing it in. I'm hopeless with recipes. I'm really glad I asked you to help me out with this."

They both became aware of their positions a second later. The smiles slid off their faces as they realized their hands were both clasped around the bowl, which was the only thing separating their bodies. The heat from the stove top was not the culprit for their reddened cheeks. The seconds that ticked by on the clock over their heads seemed to pass agonizingly slow.

Claire smiled once more and pushed the bowl into his arms, taking a step back. "I'm glad you asked me too. I think Ann will really like this."

Cliff's features relaxed into a similar grin. "I hope so."

"I walk down another street."

Claire's feet skimmed the waters of Mineral Beach, basking in the delight of cold against their burned bottoms. The entire summer had almost passed, and it had taken a definite toll on Claire's body. She enjoyed the relaxing sensation of being alone on the dock for a bit, where a faint breeze rustled her hair and the water's coolness felt wonderful against her skin as she splashed it up her arms and legs. Behind her everyone was milling about, excitedly discussing the upcoming fireworks show. According to Mayor Thomas, it would be the best one yet. Claire was withholding judgment until she saw the whole thing. Last year's display would be hard to beat.

Back then she had watched the show with Cliff. Now she could see Ann and Cliff sitting together over her shoulder. The redhead caught her eye and waved, and Claire returned it with a grin. Cliff was too caught up in his girlfriend to notice her. She didn't mind that.

Gray, she noted, was nowhere to be found. It was with a new kind of sigh that she turned back to the water. When she had asked Ann whether or not he was back with Mary, the waitress had replied with a knowing smile that Mary was dating someone from the city and Gray was definitely still single. That didn't explain why he had decided to skip the festival. She had seen him last year, from where she had sat with Cliff. He had even stopped by to say hello.

She laughed to herself, shaking her head. At what point she had found that she yearned for Gray's little acts of kindness? She couldn't remember a point where they crossed from being annoying to endearing, but it seemed they had done so. Perhaps he had snuck up on her.

"How sad." Claire turned in time to see a blur, and then felt someone drop down onto the dock beside her. Gray was sitting cross legged, a grin on his lips and his hat pulled tightly down over his forehead. He winked teasingly when she glared at him. "Am I ever going to find you hanging out with other people?"

"You're not funny," she replied, snatching his hat from him and dangling it over the water's edge. He lurched forward for his prized possession, seizing her wrist. "I'll let go," she said warningly.

"So will I."

"And why is that supposed to bother me?" Claire demanded, her voice rising. The smirk on his lips saw through her façade, however, and Gray leaned closer. She hoped very dearly that he did not let go. Even when a shimmering gold firework lurched into the air, he did not pull away. He leaned closer, his lips meeting hers, taking his hat back with his free hand. Even with it returned, he did not let go. She felt him plop it backwards on her head and then he continued to kiss her, playfully tugging the brim until she couldn't see even if she wanted to.

When the fireworks ended, Gray returned his hat to his head and held out a hand, yanking Claire to her feet when she gave him hers. She saw that he was not going to act as though nothing had happened – he was still holding her hand, fingers laced through hers. For a moment, she thought of how angry she had been at Cliff when he had walked back to Ann after their conversations as though nothing had happened. Now, that seemed very silly. Nothing had happened. This, she said, what she was feeling right at that moment, what had transpired between her and Gray, this is something that has happened and it will be impossible to act as though it didn't.

Heavy footsteps sounded behind them at the dock, and Gray and Claire sprang apart, blushing as they faced Ann and Cliff. Both parties pretended there was no awkwardness in the situation, but Ann winked when Claire caught her eye. "We wanted to know if you wanted to come back with us to the Inn for dinner, Claire. Gray already said he'd come earlier, so we thought we could make it a bit more fun."

"Yeah, it'd be nice if you joined us. You can show Ann how to make truffle rice."

"I really don't think that'll help her skills," Gray answered Cliff. Ann raised her fist and swung at Gray, who had known her long enough to dodge it.

Claire smiled at the three and nodded her head. "I'd love that," she told them. And she meant it.

Mayor Thomas was right, she told herself as she walked behind Cliff and Ann, Gray sliding his hand back into hers. This year's firework display had easily topped its predecessor. Whether she owed that to the show or to her company, she decided to keep secret.