Harvey was a lonely man.

He hadn't lived a bad life, yet he wasn't satisfied. It was ordinary. No kids, no wife, no family to show for himself at 31. Fortunately, he had suffered through enough college to call himself a doctor, but that was nothing in the grand scheme of things. Sighing, he flipped through old medical records on his desktop.

Shane, 21

Alcohol dependency issues

No family history of heart disease

Maru, 19

Asthmatic

Small history of breast cancer on father's side

Knock knock

Startled, Harvey looked up from his desk. This is a clinic, who would bother knocking on a public facility? All questions were answered as a gorgeous woman stepped through the now open door of the clinic. His jaw dropped. Beautiful, curly red hair cascaded down the shoulders of her slim, yet muscular figure. In her petite hands sat a bouquet of flowers. Before he even realized, the woman had handed him a plucky yellow flower.

"Th-That's such a nice gift. Thank you!" Harvey stammered out.

"I'm glad you like it, I just picked it this morning."

"Forgive me for asking, but what is your reasoning behind such a gift?"

She laughed, and as she did so, her ringlets bounced with each wholesome chuckle. Harvey was in love.

"I'm new in town, I just thought everyone would like an introduction. The name's Melanie, but everyone calls me Mel."

Mel. What a fitting name, he thought. His eyes grazed over her features. Were those...freckles? Yes, yes those are freckles. How incredible, it seems as if each were meticulously placed one by one.

"Doctor? Are you alright?"

Shit

He was staring, wasn't he? Oh Yoba, he was staring.

"Ah, it's nothing! Let's skip the formalities, call me Harvey," he stuck out his hand as a way of easing his own tension, or maybe even an offering of some kind. Either way, she took it, and shook his offered hand heartily.

"Alright, Harvey. Pleased to meet you, I guess I'll see you around?"

"Yes, definitely! Absolutely!"

Another precious laugh echoed from her...

And she was gone.

Damn, she needed a smoke. Sitting on her porch, she took a cigarette out of its box, lit the end, and had a long pull. Breathing out the smoke, she flipped the box around in her hands. 'WARNING: SMOKING CAUSES LUNG CANCER, HEART DISEASE, EMPHYSEMA, AND MAY COMPLICATE PREGNANCY.' How funny. Everyone told her it was a dumbass idea, yet she did it anyways. Life sucks. Don't get her wrong, she loves people, and she loves giving gifts, but being around all those perky townspeople took a lot out of her. They're all so...sickeningly happy. Although, Shane did give her a run for her money.

There was something about that Doctor Harvey.

So dorky, and yet so handsome at the same time with his funny little moustache. Don't think like that, she warned herself. Attachments never ended well for her, it seemed. She's smoked more than nicotine in her time on this earth. After her best friend died, any chemical she could find was good enough for her. You name it, she's taken some form of it. That can't be great for her health. Sometimes she wonders when she'll fall off the face of this planet, and what drug it'll be from. Maybe a past drug that went into remission? Or maybe she'll find herself in a relapse with a needle in her arm? Oh goodie, the possibilities are just endless.

She wasn't always like this, especially not out in public. Her internal monologues were way too attention whore-ish and pitiful to say out loud. Mel wasn't a moron, she knew she was hopeless, she just prefered to keep that bit of her private. With that crap out of the way, she was a much more fun person to be around.

What better thing to do than go get a drink?

There she stood, smoking a cigarette outside the Stardrop Saloon. Yoba, she was a sight. He frowned. She would be so much more of a beauty without that awful thing hanging between her lips.

"Hey, look who it is! It's Harvey!"

He neared her, that frown set in his cheeks, "Those things aren't great for your health, you know."

"Who's stopping me? Maybe you'd be less uptight if you had a drag."

"I don't think so. Do you have any idea what the consequences are?"

"I've read the box, Doc."

"Then you should know better! You can't look after a farm when you've been overcome with lung cancer! Heart disease! Asthma-"

Mel stepped closer, Harvey could feel her breath on his face. She had already had a few drinks, he could smell them on her, and it was absolutely intoxicating. "You should know that I'm going to hand your ass to you on a silver platter if you don't shut up," there she went, laughing that world-stopping laugh of hers. He froze stiff as a board as she put her hand on his shoulder, looking dead into his eyes. "You really are something else, Harvey."

Chuckling nervously, he wracked his brain for something to say. Instead, he simply licked his fingers and put out her cigarette.

"Let's get you home."