The Reason

A/N: This is now in doujinshi mode. Please check it out too (link is on the end of my profile page). Enjoy (or not)…

Chapter 1

Claire was running as fast as she could towards the Clinic. Moments earlier, Duke had visited her to ask her for help with the Fall Wine Harvest the next day. He explained that she would be the best candidate since she was after all a farmer. Claire was just a bit unconvinced with his reasoning – it hadn't even been a year since she'd moved in. However, she appreciated Duke and Manna's kindness, and she had happily accepted. When Duke had encouraged her to bring a friend along, Claire knew just who she wanted to invite.

She nearly slammed into the door of the Clinic, giving Elli a bad shock.

"Claire!" she exclaimed. "Please don't do that! You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"Sorry, Elli," Claire apologized sheepishly. "Um, is the Doctor in?"

"He's in his office as usual."

"Thanks!"

She took a few deep breaths to steady herself as she peered through the curtains. There he was, sitting alone at his desk, quietly focused on some paperwork. Claire smiled as she watched him. 'Trent will come with he, won't he?' she thought, gripping the curtain. 'Oh, I hope he says yes!' In her excitement, she reflexively tugged on the curtain. Suddenly, there was a loud snapping sound from above, and Claire looked up in time to see a flash of silver and a lot of blue curtain.

"Aaack-!"

Trent jumped at the sound of her scream. He stared at the mass of blue cloth piled on top of the blonde where the entrance to his office should have been. "C-Claire?"

"H-hi…"

He put his pen down and pulled the curtains off of her. "What were you doing? Are you hurt?"

"I-I'm fine," she assured him, rubbing her head. "I came to see you…"

"Did you need a check-up?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Do I have to have that reason to come and see you?"

Trent shrugged and walked back to his desk. "Well, I guess not," he said dully as he seated himself back to his work.

Claire walked closer towards his desk. 'He looks annoyed,' she thought worriedly. "Um…Are you mad at me, Trent?"

"No, it's fine," he replied without looking up.

"Well…" Claire paused for a moment and then continued, "Actually, I wanted to ask you something."

"Is that so?"

"You see, Duke invited me to the Fall Wine Harvest," she explained, a smile forming on her lips. "He probably asked me because I'm a farmer and all. Well, anyways, he said that I could bring a friend to help, so I was wondering–"

"I'm sorry," Trent interrupted, his eyes still lowered at his paperwork. Claire stared at him with widened eyes, her mouth still open from her sentence. "I'm really busy right now. If you don't need a check-up, could we talk later?"

The world seemed to come to a full stop to Claire. She barely managed to say, "Oh. I see." After another beat, she turned from Trent, apologizing softy as she ran out, "Sorry for bothering you!"

Elli smiled at her from the counter. "Hey, how did it g–?" The door slammed before she could finish her question. She stared blankly at the door, murmuring, "She's so fast…" She threw a glance at Trent's office–or what was left of it–and sighed softly. 'I wonder what he said to make her like that?' she thought. 'I guess I'm a little jealous…They're so close. The Doctor isn't really the most sensitive person though…'

There was only one word to describe how Claire was feeling as she tried to get away as far as possible from the Clinic. 'That was awful!' she thought. 'Why? Why did he have to be like that?!' She was so disoriented that she didn't even see Cliff walking in front of her and bumped into him hard.

"Owww…" he groaned. "Claire, you should be more careful! You're built like a tank!" He smiled, but it quickly turned into a look of concern when she looked up at him with tears in her eyes.

She covered her face quickly and turned away from him. "S-sorry…"

Cliff's hands tightened into fists. Lowering his head, he asked her quietly, "Do you…Do you want to go to the Church with me?"

She sniffed. "O-okay…"

A/N: Well, that's all that I feel like typing. Please tell me what you think.