Hello! This is technically my first fanfic, so I would really appreciate it if you gave it a read! Please let me know if you have any advice on how I should write, or even ideas you many have for some plot to this story. This one is meant to be RioXNeil but I'm planning on making some other relationships in there. You never know! I hope you enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN HARVEST MOON OR ANY OF IT'S CHARACTERS.

Chapter 1

"Rio. How many times do I have to tell you? You can't hang around our shops if you're not gonna buy anything!"

"Yeah yeah I know. You've said it a million times. But there aren't any customers around so I'm not bothering anyone!"

"You're bothering me." The tall, coat clad blonde scoffed.

"You're not bothering me, Rio!" added Rod from his place behind his stall.

"Thanks Rod. You're too nice." She said stroking one of the puppies Rod had for sale.

She set the small pup down to let it join its friends. "Lighten up Neil, you guys are too busy with shopkeeper stuff to play with these adorable animals. Who else is going to keep them company?"

"Rio…" Neil grumbled.

"Ugh. Fine. But you know I'll be back!"

Defeated, she got up from her seated position in the middle of the animal pen. Rio had been lounging around Rod and Neil's animal stalls in the town plaza for most of the morning. Neil doesn't like people hanging around if they're not buying anything and Rod never really gets a say in what goes around the shop. Out of all the people Rio could have picked to be friends with, these two guys were the ones she decided on. If you could even call Neil a friend.

Rio had moved to Echo Village in the spring of last year and even though she had made a ton of improvements to the town to get more and more villagers to come back, she had failed to make many friends. Who was she kidding? Rio grew up a tomboy and never fit in with girls. Many people had pointed out her overwhelming feminine qualities throughout her life. Long, light brown hair that had been lightened by the sun, and bright blue eyes. But, she was a farmgirl. So of course she never presented herself in an overly girly way. She wore overalls and boots, partnered with whatever clean shirt she had on hand, and her trusty cowboy hat. If she even remembered to put it on.

Her story is a traditional one. Rio's mother was a farmer, her mother before her, and her mother before that. So as far back as she could count, her entire family had been farmers. At least on her mother's side. Her father was a florist over in Bluebell Village, her grandfather was an animal dealer, and her great grandfather was a blacksmith. Even one of her cousins was a farmer.

Ever since she was a little girl Rio knew she had wanted to have a farm of her own, so when she turned eighteen, she started searching. Two years later and here she was. Rio had found the ad for a farm a little over a year ago and decided to take a chance. Nestled in the southern end of Echo Village, a place once barren and uninhabited, was a small bit of property that was used for farming long ago. With a little love, and a lot of work, she managed to remodel the farmhouse and build a barn and coup. Now, a few weeks before her twentieth birthday, She had made quite a life for herself.

After lazily making her way back to her farmland she realized she had nothing to do. All of her farm work was done for the day, her crops had been watered and fertilized, her lone cow Cali had been brushed and fed and was now grazing on the spring grass. She was surrounded by Rio's small flock of four chickens. Rio had accumulated her hens over the course of the past year and despite the fact that they were girls, she had decided to give them male names. Tony, Chip, Howard and Leonard.

Since she had a few hours left before it was time to round up the animals, she decided to read a book by the river. Dunhill had insisted that she take some time to make improvements to her own farm once in a while instead of focusing so much on the town and boy was she glad she did. She had built a good sized dock at the southern end of her farm that was a frequent spot for visitors and of course, reading. Once she picked out a book, she made her way to the dock to enjoy some light reading before finishing up her day.

When five o'clock rolled around she heard a familiar set of footsteps making their way over. It was Emma coming to pick up the shipping, and to check in. Rio considered Emma to be somewhat of a mother figure. She was one of the first faces that Rio had met when she first moved to the village. And, since Emma stopped by everyday anyway, she took it upon herself to check up on Rio.

"And how are you today, Emma?" Rio spoke up while closing her book.

Taking a set beside Rio, Emma replied. "Oh you know, same old, same old. What about you?"

"Oh I'm fine. Just running a little sort on fun these days."

"Sweetheart, you need more friends. You can't rely on two full-time shop owners to keep you company all the time. Branch out!" She said while giving Rio a firm pat on the back. "Besides, how can you even put up with Neil?"

"Speaking of Neil, he shooed me away from his store again today. Apparently I was a bother." She said.

"Rio. I know you like to think that you and Neil are friends, but are you really? Do you guys even hang out? You've always said such great things about Rod, but Neil just seems like he doesn't care."

"I mean, I like to think that we're friends. If I were to need help with something he would help me. And no, we don't hang out like Rod and I do, but sometimes he tags along. And I think somewhere deep down he cares. I just want to give him a chance." Rio replied.

"Give him a chance, eh?" With this Emma let a mischievous grin spread across her face. "Does someone want more than a friendship? I know all the men of the village are attractive, but Neil? I thought you liked more of the Rod type. Oooo is it the animals? You like farm boys? Is that i-"

"Hush Emma!" Rio turned a bright red and started sputtering any sort of excuse she could come up with. "That's not it and you know it! He's way too much of a jerk to be my type. And for your information, Rod is NOT my type. Just friends. That's it."

"Fine! Whatever you say Rio!" Emma giggled as she stood to make her way off the ranch. "I've gotta go, I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Good riddance!" Rio called after her jokingly.

After her little chat with Emma, Rio stood up to put away her animals and finish up her work for the day. With summer just around the corner and contests to prepare for, she turned in early for the night.

Authors Note: Let me know what you think!