So I'm starting a new fic! And it's not part of the Claire series, to many of your disappointment I'm sure. Haha. Don't worry, all in good time...

This is a story I've had in the works for a while, but now that Strange and Beautiful is over, I can finally give it more attention. Of course, I've been really busy, I'm still trying to get the third installment of the Claire trilogy together, and I don't even have the second chapter of this fic written, but I would like to keep writing it. I wanted to do something a little lighter after Strange and Beautiful.

As always, reviews are appreciated. I hope you guys enjoy this one. :)

One

Fifteen, and already Bo knew heartbreak. He was a boy with wisdom beyond his years.

But first, we should start at the beginning, for his broken heart did not come from a single event, but was rather a culmination of smaller happenings that snowballed into the final splinter that shattered his soul.

Bo had the misfortune of being born at the wrong time. Every single person in Waffle Town was either at least five years older than him or at least five years younger. There was no in between—well, save for one lovely exception, but that will come soon enough—and that meant he was alone.

Not alone in the sense that he did not have any friends; alone in the sense that there was no one on the same level as him, no peer he could fully to relate to.

There was, however, Luke, with whom he spent most of his days, mostly because they worked together at the carpenter's, and not by any voluntary choice. Luke was a bit of an odd character in Bo's eyes. To put it simply, he was the opposite of Bo, in that perhaps Bo thought too much, and Luke too little. But regardless, Bo enjoyed the time he spent with him—usually, anyway. Luke was the closest thing he had to a confidant. A best friend, even.

And therefore it was Luke, and Luke alone, who knew of Bo's predicament, of his broken heart.

He might not have been the best person to be the keeper of this knowledge. Along with thinking too much, Bo was also the sensitive type, while Luke was the type to swing his axe and ask questions later, and anyone in his path had to face the consequences of his actions themselves. It wasn't that Luke was insensitive or uncaring; he was merely unintentionally inconsiderate in his recklessness.

"Why don't you just drink it off, Bo?" This was a prime example of typical Luke reasoning. "Drown your sorrows, and all that. You're a man, after all, and nobody could blame you for it."

"I'm fifteen, Luke," Bo answered in the same glum monotone he'd been using with everyone ever since It happened. He didn't really feel like a man. His face was too freckly and his eyes were too big, he thought. Not very manly at all.

"So what?" Luke flung an arm around the younger boy's shoulders and started leading him towards town, towards the Sundae Inn, no doubt. Their work at the carpentry was finished for the day. The sun was beginning to set. "Live a little, why don't ya? I bet I can convince ol' Hayden to serve you a couple, if I tell him what happened—"

"You are not telling anyone what happened," he groaned, but not even with the usual barbed tone he used when Luke was being especially stupid. He didn't have the energy. He wondered if he was depressed. But didn't depressed people want to drink and do other self-destructive things? He wasn't sure...

"Relax, Bo. Have I ever told you you need to relax more?"

"Yes."

"Because seriously, you need to take it easy. You get so uptight about everything. Rules are meant to be broken. And I know this is hard to hear, and I hate to be the one to tell you this, believe me, but did you ever think the problem might be with you? Luna probably wants a guy who's not afraid to—"

"Luke. Can you please stop talking."

They went along in silence for a few steps before Luke sighed. "Sure thing, buddy. Now let's get you that drink."

x x x

So that's how Bo ended up stumbling drunk home, in the dark, cursing Luke and every pebble that caused him to trip along the way.

He'd had a few drinks for the heck of it—Hayden had taken one look at Bo's miserable face and deemed him deserving of alcohol, despite being underage—and that was all it took. His head was dizzy, he felt sick to his stomach, everything seemed sluggish and trailing. It made him think of slugs, which only made him feel worse.

He managed to escape with Luke barely noticing—he was too busy simultaneously chatting up Selena and Kathy to pay much attention to Bo at that point. Now Bo was trying to find his way home. He'd realized too late he'd taken a wrong turn, and was going down the winding path that led past some abandoned farmland that the mayor had been trying to sell for ages. Normally Bo wouldn't have minded, because it was the scenic route, and he enjoyed the quietude of nature, but the only thing he could think about was emptying his stomach contents. Preferably sooner rather than later.

He tripped again, and the lurch of his stomach sent a fresh wave of nausea rocking through his body. This was it. He couldn't take it anymore. He staggered over to one of the fields and vomited.

It took a good minute for the retching to subside, but when it finally did, he felt much better. He straightened himself, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. And then he realized he was being watched.

"Um. Are you okay?" It came from a shadowy form standing a few yards off. It was a girl, or a young woman, he could tell that much. Behind her was an old farmhouse he'd never seen occupied before with yellow light coming from every window. He squinted at it in confusion and forgot to answer her question.

"Hello? Did you just throw up on my plants?"

He looked down at the ground and realized that there were, in fact, little green sprouts poking up from the soil and sick.

"I'm sorry," he answered mildly, stepping back so he wasn't endangering the seedlings anymore. "I believe I did, yes."

She'd started towards him when he finally answered, and as she got closer, and he could see more of her features, he saw her blow out a sigh of relief.

"Oh, good. You're just a kid. I was afraid you were some creepy old drunk guy." She sniffed and then grimaced. "But you have been drinking, huh? Man. You're too young." She shook her head, but not like she wanted to lecture him. More like she pitied him. It wasn't meant to be patronizing, but it made Bo feel nauseous all over again.

"Who are you?" he asked, opening his mouth as little as possible as he spoke, so neither of them would be subjected to his alcoholic puke breath.

"Right. I'm Angela," she said, sticking out a hand for him to shake. "Just got here today. I bought this farmland."

"I'm Bo," he replied, shaking her hand tentatively. They stood there awkwardly and then Bo glanced back down at the ground. "What have you got here? Strawberries, right?" The question stemmed from a mixture of curiosity and a desire to talk about anything but his recent soiree with alcohol.

He watched her beam and nod enthusiastically. "That's right. And over there's potatoes, and next to them's cabbage…"

"Wow. You've got the whole field filled up already."

"Well, that's what I'm here to do, right?"

He couldn't argue with that. "I like plants," he told her. He might've still been a little drunk.

She gave him a funny look but laughed. "Me, too. I think I'd have to, to be able to stand being around them so much."

"I'm an apprentice for Dale. He's a carpenter."

"Neat," she said, not with sarcasm, but with a bit of puzzlement.

"So I'm around trees a lot. You know, we cut them down for the wood? Anyway, sometimes I'll just stand in the forest for a few minutes, and I feel like the plants are talking to me. It's peaceful." Okay, so he was definitely still a little drunk. This wasn't the kind of information you offered to perfect strangers. Or maybe anyone.

But Angela smiled in understanding. "Yeah, it is, isn't it?"

Another silence, but this one wasn't as awkward. For a moment, he felt like they were both being quiet so they could listen, not to each other, but to their surroundings. Peaceful.

"Well, I guess I should get home. Past my bedtime, and all that," Bo said, stepping forward with a slight sway. "I'm just a kid, after all." Ugh, why was he saying stuff like that, all of a sudden? For some reason, he didn't want Angela to see him as a kid. He was tired of it, tired of everyone using that as an excuse to look down on him. And it seemed like they'd really connected just now, in a deeper way, and then he had to go open his big dumb mouth.

Angela giggled softly in response. "Nice meeting you, Bo. Be careful walking home."

"Yeah, nice to meet you," he said over his shoulder, stumbling forward into the night. "Thanks."

x x x

The more he thought about it, the more Bo thought he might very well be in love with Angela.

Okay, so it was a bit of a stretch. He'd just met her, and he knew very little about her, and there was the little fact that he was still heartbroken over another girl. But he couldn't stop thinking about her. He felt like they had an understanding, a kindred spirits kind of thing. She liked plants, and he liked that about her.

"You seem in a much better mood," Luke said as they set out to work the following morning. "I was sure you'd be sleeping off a hangover."

"I'm surprised you're not," Bo retorted, but Luke wasn't offended.

"I told you it'd do you good. There's no point in dwelling on what happened with Luna. You gotta distract yourself. You know?"

This seemed like a good time to bring up Angela, but something stopped him. He didn't want to share what had happened. Talking about it, especially to Luke, would ruin it somehow. At the same time, he felt bad for keeping secrets from him. But he knew that Luke just wouldn't appreciate it.

"You're right," Bo said, smiling slightly when Luke turned away from him, as his mind wandered back to Angela. Distract himself indeed.

x x x