I bought Tree of Tranquility while Black Friday shopping and I thought this would be a cute little one-shot. I hope you enjoy it.

Morning broke over the horizon with a shot of bright lightening across the barely lit sky. The sun cowered behind clouds as if they were their big brother protecting them as their parents shrieked at each other from across the room. I sighed and flipped over in my bed, telling myself I would only lay here for a few more minutes, as there was work that demanded to be done every morning. As my mind raced to think about the cattle, the crops, the villagers, I realized there was no hope for me getting any more shut eye so I threw the covers back with a groan. I traded my long, worn shirt I slept in for my purple work clothes and an overcoat. I glanced outside at the dancing trees in the harsh wind of the oncoming storm and reached for my wool hat, pulling it tight over my ears. My fingers stalled on the doorknob, not ready to embark into the harsh, cool air of late autumn. I sighed once more before thrusting the door open and stepping out.

The ends of my short, cropped brown hair flew around my face, some pieces coming up to hit me in the eye, making me gasp and hold one hand to my head for fear I would lose my hat. The storm that was coming was big, maybe even a tornado. I cursed myself for not watching and keeping up with the weather as much as I probably should, considering I am a slave to nature. I trudged to the coop and opened the door before shutting it tightly behind me. I smiled down at all of the little faces that looked up at me, peeping quietly. I patted each one on the head while I filled up their feed dispensers. I made sure to give my silkworms plenty of feed as well, stroking each one on their little heads as well. I checked on my incubated egg, praying to the goddess it would hold out for one more day before it hatched. I wanted to be here when the baby was born, and the storm would soon be prohibiting that. I wrung my hangs together anxiously before walking back over to the door and going through it to the barn. I made short work of the barn work, for the wind was picking up speed and rain was starting to fall. I brushed the animals with lightning speed before milking the goat and cow. I patted each one on the head as I passed them, and my horse whinnied as lightning struck outside. I stroked him on the nose softly, "It's okay, Whisper. You're safe in the barn."

He nudged his nose into my hand for a moment before he sighed and went to eat his feed. When his nose hit nothing but barrel, he snapped his head up to glare at me and blew a harsh breath of air threw his nose. I giggled at him as I walked over to the fodder and filled each animals' trough with food. They all sounded their pleasure before digging into their meals. I put the milk quickly through the cheese maker before stuffing all of my goodies into my bag and heading back out in the storm. I shot a look at my crops as I ran past the field, praying that the Harvest Goddess would keep them safe in this frenzy. I made it safely back to my home and shut the door tightly behind me. I put the perishable goods in the fridge before I sighed, plopping down on the sofa that sat against the kitchen counter. I closed my eyes for a moment, before snapping them open when I felt cold rain hit my forehead.

"You have got to be kidding me!" I exclaimed before pushing myself to my feet to walk behind the counter to get a milking bucket I kept there for emergencies like this.

Ever since I upgraded my home to the biggest Dale and Luke could manage, I feel like they have been cutting corners to get the job done in time. First it was faulty flooring, then broken planks on the stairs and, of course, now a leaky roof. I sat the bucket on the couch where I was sitting and glanced around. My eyes widened as I visibly saw more patches of roof that let the pouring rain in. I ran to the kitchen to grab bowls and glasses, anything that would catch rain, and quickly placed them under the leaks. I cursed Luke and his father under my breath as I grabbed the cordless phone in hand and dialed the Carpenters'. Dale answered the phone in a cheery voice, much like his son's. "Hello, this is the Carpenters'. We open at 9:00 and close at 5:00. We are closed on-"

"Dale, you need to come do something about my roof before my entire house gets flooded and I have to pay for water damage." I demanded, interrupting him in his spiel he always gave when he answered the phone.

Dale was silent for a moment before he put his hand over the receiver, muffling his yelled question to Luke. "Hey, did you ever fix Angela's roof?"

I heard a faint curse. "No, I completely forgot. Sorry!" I heard Luke yell back, making me grit my teeth. Of course Luke forgot to fix my roof.

"Don't worry. Luke is on his way to fix it right this instant. Right, Luke?"

Luke gasped. "No! It's a freaking tornado outside. No man, even as dumb as I may be, would go out there to fix a roof and flirt with the idea of getting struck with lightning. No thanks, Pops."

Dale put his hand over the receiver again. "Do you want to spend time with Angela? This is the perfect chance."

Dale removed his hand from the receiver in time for me to hear clearly Luke agree to come fix the roof. I smiled. "Thank you, Dale. Tell Luke I'll see him soon."

We hung up the phone and I got hit in the face with another stream of rain when I sat on the corner of the dining room table. I sighed, grabbing my last remaining bowl and holding it up over my head to catch the rain, but nothing was landing in the bowl. "Of course it wouldn't be that easy. Nothing ever is." I muttered to myself, climbing on the chair before placing a sturdy boot on the table, careful not to muddy the table cloth Candace had made for me. I held the bowl up once more, struggling to find the leak when Luke crashed through the door, tarp in hand, and completely soaked to the bone.

He just looked at me for a moment before busting out laughing. "What in the world are you doing?"

I sniffed, trying to hold on to my last strand of dignity as I looked at him. "I was trying to find the leak." I stated simply, before hopping down from the table to land in front of him. As my wet boots hit the ground however, they slipped out from under me and I went hurdling toward Luke. He caught me effortlessly, wrapping his arms around my waist to keep me on my feet.

We just looked at each other for a moment before I realized that he actually was soaked to the bone. "Get off of me! You're wet!" I pushed against his chest, trying to break free from his hold.

He laughed and released me but, before I could scamper away from him, he undid his bandana and shook his blue hair like a dog, splattering me with rain water. I screamed and cowered away from him, running behind the kitchen counter for protection.

"You're a caveman, you know that?" I questioned, causing him to laugh.

"I know, but at least I'm attractive, right?"

I blushed at his question that wasn't a question so much as a statement. He tied his bandana back on his head before digging through his bag to pull out the tarp he had stowed there. He straightened and looked at me with an easy smile on his face. "If I get struck by lightning, it's on you."

He exited the way he came and was gone for a couple moments. I got some milk out of the fridge and put it in the skillet, warming the milk for when he returned from the pouring rain. I made some herbal tea for myself and brought both glasses over to the table before sitting down. I was just beginning to think something bad happened to Luke when he crashed through the door again, dripping on the floor. I tried not to laugh at him, but a giggle slipped through my lips. He face lit up momentarily at the sound, before he screwed up his face to scowl at me. "Oh, you think this is funny, don't you?" he questioned, evoking another giggle from me.

"As a matter of fact, yes I do."

He shook his head before sighing. "Did you make me some warm milk?"

I nodded as he down the cup, sighing in pleasure as the warm liquid slid down his throat. "Damn, that's good. Okay, I need to get out of these wet clothes."

At the mention of his clothes, my eyes settled on the way the wet fabric clung to his toned body. I could see the outline of his abs through the flimsy material. His biceps he molded to perfection from years of chopping trees were hugged by the sleeves of his shirt. His pants stuck to him in places that would make any girl weak at the knees, and would have made me if I were standing. His shoulders bounced with the laugh he suppressed at my obvious appraisal and I snapped out of my trance. "Yeah, you probably should." You would be far less dangerous that way.

He sauntered over to lean against the kitchen counter and unlaced his thick work boots. "No peeking at the merchandise." He demanded with a devilish look on his face. I nodded my head mutely, unable to look away.

He dropped his boots to the floor one by one, each thud making me flinch as the sound was harsh to my ears. He undid his gloves and set them on the counter. He shrugged out of his vest, laying it on the arm of the couch behind him. He took his shark tooth necklace off and placed it in the pocket of his jeans before pulling his shirt over his head. My eyes were entranced with the way that his back muscles clenched and flexed and moved. He threw his shirt behind him on the couch with the vest and reached down to undo his belt. He pulled it out of the loops of his pants and discarded it. I heard the snap of his pants come undone and I gasped quietly, flinching at the sound of the zipper going down. I watched his shoulders again at he pulled off his soaking wet jeans, having to sit on the edge of the couch to get them off all the way. Before I knew it, I had a boxer clad Luke standing in front of me with a lopsided smile painted on his face.

"What should I do with my clothes?" He inquired in an amused voice, snapping me from my trance.

I cleared my throat, getting up from my perch at the table. "I'll go hang them up upstairs to dry. You can… uh… make yourself at home."

I grabbed his clothes up from their pile and took the stairs two at a time. When I reached the landing, I leaned against the wall and tried to take deep breaths. This boy was dangerous. My feelings for him were dangerous. I clutched his clothes against my chest as I struggled to figure out what I was going to do. I couldn't make him leave, not without any clothes. It was coming down like no other outside as well. After what he's done to me though, I wouldn't mind making him run home in his boxers. I giggled at that image before pushing off the wall and laying his clothes over the banister of the stairs to dry. I took a steadying breath before returning to him downstairs.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw he had retrieved the blanket I kept at the foot of my bed in case I got cold at night and draped it around his shoulders. "Are you cold? I could turn up the heat." I offered, earning a terse headshake from him.

"No, I should be fine once I dry a little, but thank you."

"Thank you for coming over in this storm to fix my roof." I said greatfully, walking over to the kitchen to begin making us lunch.

He sat down on the couch and watched me as I cooked. "Technically, it's not fixed yet. I just bought you some time, but you don't have to thank me."

We sat in silence for a long while, me cooking and him watching me cook. I finished the food a few moments later, and we both ushered over to the table to eat. We ate in silence as well, but it wasn't awkward. It was almost… comfortable. Like we didn't feel the need to fill the air with idle chatter, we were just okay to bask in being in each other's presence. He finished eating before I did, and looked around my home as if this was the first time he had ever been inside. I suppose even if he had made these walls alongside his father, he never got to see anything beyond the end product. He didn't get to see it go from a house to a home.

I was about to open my mouth to say something when the lights cut out. All that came out of my mouth was a sharp shriek. Luke laughed at my stereotypical girl reaction to the power going out. "Where do you keep your candles?"

I mentally scolded myself at my reaction. "They're in the cabinet. I'll get the matches." I felt my way along the table to the couch and felt for the matches on the counter. When my hand grasped them, I turned around and collided with the warm, sturdy chest of Luke.

"Jesus, Luke! Way to scare someone." I exclaimed in a breathless voice.

"Sorry. I just knew where you would be. I didn't mean to scare you. Here." He reached down to grab my hand, placing the candle in my palm. I took a steadying breath before striking the match and lighting the three wick candle. The house lit up in a soft glow, and I placed the candle on the kitchen counter.

Luke smiled at me before settling down on the couch and patting the space beside him. I sat down with a good two feet between us and brought my knees up to my chest, facing him on the couch. He looked like he was going to say something serious before he opened his mouth and asked "Truth or dare?"
I blanched at his question. "What? Where did that come from?"

"I figured if we're stuck in this house till the rain stops, we might as well do something fun. So, truth or dare?"

I sighed loudly at his antics. "Truth."

"Is it true that when you girls have sleepovers at the inn you just have wild, crazy lesbian sex the entire time?" he asked with an intensive look on his face, like my answer would cure cancer or something.

I burst out laughing, my sides pinching in pain as I cackled in a very un-ladylike way. "Oh my Goddess. That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. Of course we don't do that!"

His face fell a little but he regained his composure. "Then what do you do?"

I glowered at him. "Since when do you get two questions?"

"Since now. Just answer the question and we can move on."

"We talk about the boys in town and who we think is cute. Is that what you wanted to hear?" I sighed, placing my chin on my knee and leveling my gaze with his.

His eyes widened for a moment before he leaned forward towards me, as if sharing a secret. "Who do you think is cute on the island?" he whispered.

I leaned toward him as well. "I think Hamilton is mighty fine." I whispered back and he fell back to his end of the couch with a grumpy humph.

"You aren't taking this game seriously." He pouted, earning a giggle from me.

"Why should I take this game seriously when you just asked three questions in a row? Last time I checked, those are not the rules." I complained, tightening my hold around my knees. "Besides, who says I don't actually think Hamilton is attractive?"

He blew a quick breath of air threw his nose and shook his head. "I do, because I would like to think I know you a little better than that."

I looked at him for a few moments before smiling gently at him. "Fine. I don't think Hamilton is attractive. Now, truth or dare?"

He heaved a sigh as he contemplated which one he was going to choose. "Truth."

I shot a smile at him from my end of the couch. "Is it true that you and the guys went skinny dipping one night down at the falls and got caught by Hamilton coming back from the hot springs?"

He burst out laughing at my question. "That actually is true, though you don't have all the details. I was with some of the guys and a few of the girls on the island tagged along too. We went down to the falls with the intent of just having a nice date between the six of us. Chase was all cuddly with Maya, Owen was with Candace of all people, and I had tagged along with Kathy. Eventually as the night went on, Kathy got the idea to go skinny dipping. Of course, being the horny teenager I was, agreed in a heartbeat. The others had to be convinced, but they eventually agreed. So we stripped down to our birthday suits and jumped in. It was mid- fall and it felt like someone dumped a bucket of ice in the water. There was nothing sexy about it at all.

"As we were all standing in the water, shivering because no one wanted to be the first one to wuss out and leave, we heard someone coming down the trail to the hot springs. I could tell by the tune he was whistling that it was Hamilton and that were were toast. You should have seen us try and get out of the water as fast as we did. They all just grabbed their clothes and ran off naked into the woods. I was the last one out and, of course, the only one he saw. He told my Pops and I ended up having to work an entire summer in the library in town hall."

I had been trying to suppress my laughter the entire time he told his story, but I couldn't hold it in anymore. I burst out laughing at him, at the mental image of a boy I didn't know getting caught in that situation by Hamilton. It was more than I could take. Luke shook his head at me from the other end of the couch and joined me in laughing.

"Anyway, other than getting caught, it was actually pretty fun. Maybe I'll take you some time." He said, a warm look on his face.

I raised my eyebrows in shock. "You want to take me skinny dipping?"

"What?! No. I mean, yes, but that's not what I was offering. I just meant I could take you swimming." He sputtered, earning another laugh from me.

"I knew what you meant. I would love to go swimming with you, but only when it gets warmer."

That's how the rest of our night went. We joked and laughed, told stories no one actually knew all the details to. I may have even confessed that I thought he was the cutest on the island. We talked long into the early morning and we eventually lied down on the couch, me cuddled into his warm chest. Thanks to the rain's game, I was finally able to find where I belonged, and that was right in his arms.

So, I hope you enjoyed. Leave a review if you did. Thank you so much for reading. xoxo ~ Brittany