A/N: Hello again! Sorry for the late-ish update. Long story short, I did a lot of yard work, traveled for 9 hours in one day, and got a heck of a lot of sunburn, so unfortunately writing wasn't the first thing on my mind.

But I hope the longer chapter makes up for it :)

Um... I've been thinking about changing the rating of this story to M. Not because I'm going to write sex scenes, but because I don't know how strict the rating system is with language. I guess it's okay for now (at T) and I don't ever plan on having my characters swear, but the language is getting kinda raunchy haha. Just lemme know what you think, thanks!

A humongous thank you to my reviewers and fave/followers! You guys are so awesome, it keeps me writing ^^

And if it feels like things are moving too fast, that's because this story isn't supposed to go over like 7 chapters :p Don't worry though, there's definitely going to be another/more RaegerXMinori stories coming from me. I just don't want to post them yet because then I'd get sidetracked with all my other multichaps (plus I'd clutter up the HM pages). All in due time.

Thanks for reading! On to chapter 2~

"Raeger!"

Minori banged on his bedroom door at the top of the stairs, wondering just why it was locked now of all times. It was nighttime, nine PM to be exact!

"I want my apple pie!"

Sure, she was being extremely selfish, but when she suffered from withdrawal like this, all her actions became pretty warranted. She hadn't even accepted any calls this past week.

Minori huffed. She really didn't understand how he could still be angry over something that happened a week ago. She'd apologized a bunch of times already, but of course he didn't accept any of them, resorting to cooping himself up in his room.

She came in every night this week, sometimes earlier than normal, but it was like he heard her footsteps and immediately shut himself away to avoid her.

"All right, I'll say it again! Sorry for… forgetting your birthday," she muttered, scuffing her feet on the planked floor. "But I already gave you a make-up present! And it's already been a week, and I'd really, really like some pie right now."

She waited for a few more moments but quickly decided to give up again. She had things to do, anyway. There were seeds to be sown, small trees to be cut, rocks to mine… and if she had to, she would do it without her favorite apple pie again. It wasn't that big a deal.

Her denial only made her crankier and she started stomping down the stairs, huffing some insults about the chef along the way. It didn't make her feel any better, but at least he would hear her.

Before she got to the bottom, the door swung open. She looked back and saw Raeger, but his expression almost made her rethink her insults. Was that really all it took to get him to come out, though?

"I thought you wanted to win this contest," he said blankly, staring down at her from the top of the stairs.

She started walking back up. "What do you mean?"

"Sweets raise libido – I thought that was why you always ordered your apple pie. You needed your fill so you could get through the night with your boytoys."

He seemed so serious saying what he did, and Minori couldn't help but gawk at him. Was he…? What?

She didn't even know where to start. "Boytoys? I already told you, they come crawling to me! And libido? You think I don't know th – well, I actually didn't know… But the bet? I thought you wanted to win! If that was true, why would you tell me that?"

Raeger covered his ears. "Don't shout like that."

"What?"

He rubbed at his head, messing up his hair even more than usual. "Lower your voice."

Minori raised her eyebrows skeptically. "Why? Do you have a girl up there? Because if you do, you're losing the b – oh."

She grinned knowingly. "You're hungover."

"Yes, now shut up."

She laughed loudly, completely disregarding that request. She crossed her arms and leaned against the walling of the stairway. "No way. You're only drinking to take your mind off of the sex, aren't you?"

Raeger groaned but took his hands away from his head. "So what if I am? It's not like you've been enjoying yourself either, so I figured why not take the edge… off, or whatever."

She laughed again, mainly at his inconsistency. "You're the one who made this stupid bet, y'know. If you can't handle it, maybe you should just declare me the winner right now and give me my free apple pie." She stuck her nose in the air proudly, but that only elicited a scoff from Raeger.

"You wish."

After a few quiet moments he headed down the stairs and walked to one of the restaurant's tables. Minori followed after him to mock him some more once he sat down.

"And there's also the fact that you hate wine," she said matter-of-factly. "I don't know what you import, but I at least know we don't get any wheat beer at Otmar's shop or anywhere else around here. Just what are you drinking?"

Raeger sighed and sank his head down to the table, resting it against the tablecloth and closing his eyes. "Your voice is incredibly annoying right now."

She rolled her eyes but didn't say anything else. She was about to go over to his kitchen area and yank out the "special ingredients" to get a reaction but he continued before then.

"I do hate wine, but I hate feeling worthless even more."

She snapped her head towards him and stared. "What are you talking about?"

"Well…" He raised his head up and laid it in his hand, propped up by his elbow. Minori took the seat across from him as he talked. "You're like me. You get some sort of satisfaction from being wanted, right?"

She resisted the urge to slap him for being so conceited and nodded instead. She figured she could see where Raeger's mind wandered to for the past week, anyway. Besides, she had to admit she wasn't entirely clueless to what he meant by that.

"I guess so, yeah."

He stared blankly at the wall behind her before going on again. "I've had to reject so many girls it pains me, literally – on Thursday, I dropped a full bowl of stew because my arm gave out."

Minori snickered, laughing more when he glared at her. "Your body just has to adjust to not being with eight different women every night, don't worry." She waved her hand playfully to brush it off. "Anyway, I guess, uh… I've been feeling strange lately, too. I've rejected a lot of calls I normally wouldn't, and they just kept calling back so my phone's actually bro – er, I mean, disconnected, right now."

He shared her laugh, knowing exactly what she meant by disconnected, and kept the conversation up. "I never really knew how hard or tiring rejecting people was until now. I've never had to do it."

"It was your idea," she reminded him. "I totally get it, though. Hearing guys whine to me about how horny they are isn't something I want to stick on my agenda. I get enough of that from you."

"Hey, now!"

Minori giggled. "I'm just teasing you. Y'know, you're not really that bad, I guess."

"Does that mean you want to purposely lose the bet?"

She reached across the table to give him a good slug on the arm, pursing her lips angrily. "No, it most certainly does not!"

"I'm just teasing you," he said mockingly.

She rolled her eyes, ready to spout one of her sarcastic retorts, but the door opened and a customer walked in.

Raeger immediately sprang up and greeted the guest, a woman with long, dirty blond hair not unlike Minori's. He took her order quickly and let her sit down at the bar while she waited.

On his way to the kitchen he shot Minori a somewhat apologetic look but otherwise ignored her as he worked. She couldn't say she really minded, but an introduction would've been nice.

But then again, it wasn't like they were together or anything. She and Raeger dated different people all the time, anyway, and neither one ever brought a date over, to show off or otherwise. This was fine, and besides, perhaps afterwards she could guilt him into making that stupid apple pie free of charge for the inconvenience.

In any case, though, she stayed glued to the chair, wanting to at least talk a little more about the subjects. When would the bet end? Was either of them about to win? Why was Raeger suddenly taking up drinking?

Well, she guessed she knew the answer to the last one well enough – after all, she'd resorted to some bad habits of her own lately, mainly rearranging her home's furniture several times a day – but there was still something that didn't quite click.

He wasn't being nearly as cheerful or friendly with the customer as he normally would, not to mention this customer was a female. Minori only caught a glimpse of her face but it didn't seem like she was ugly or anything, and as far as she knew Raeger tried to get with anything with two legs and large breasts. There were even a few awkward encounters she witnessed where he tried to pick up a crossdressing man, and the memories made her chuckle inwardly a bit.

He did mention having to reject a lot of girls, but she thought that was all over the phone. He was doing it in person, too, it looked like.

She smirked. It would be over in no time at all; Raeger couldn't keep this act up for very long.

This was going to be such an easy win, and she was going to save so much money.

"Waiter, waiter!" she called out, beaming when she saw his annoyed face and the woman's confused one. "Apple pie, please!"

…

"No, no, I really can't go out with you tonight," Minori reiterated for the umpteenth time. Somehow her friends in town managed to convince her to reconnect her phone (though unbeknownst to them, it was beyond repair so she had to buy a new one), and now she was being chatted at by her friend from the city. She was trying to get her to come back for the night and have a few drinks, meet some lucky guys.

She sighed. It wasn't like she could tell her about the bet, because she knew Kathy would drag her there anyway, saying "you need to lose the bet so you can get laid already." Kathy meant well, but she was the rather pushy type.

"Why are you declining me?" Kathy asked in a whiny voice, as if it would make Minori rethink her decision.

She didn't though, not even for a second. "I can't. I've got… some errands to do."

There was a sigh from the other line. "Minori, you really suck at lying. We both know that. Just tell me the truth."

Minori bit her lip. She hated keeping secrets from her, but honestly they'd been drifting apart ever since she moved to Oak Tree, and that was already going on two months now. Besides, she just didn't feel up to getting drunk and grinding on some random guy tonight. She needed a lie. Fast.

"Okay, okay, I give up," she said, coming up with one good enough to fool her friend. "There's this festival tonight, the fireworks festival, and I was… kind of hoping to ask someone out afterwards, y'know…"

She silently hoped Kathy wouldn't recall anything on the calendar, if she'd even checked it, from her own trip to the town last year. The fireworks festival was over a week ago, but there was absolutely nothing romantic about the chicken or harvest festivals coming up.

"Really?" Kathy asked excitedly.

Minori's eyes widened. She actually bought it?

"Is it that really hot chef I've been telling you about? What's his name again? Braig… Ray… Gray…"

"It's Raeger," Minori finished for her, laughing at some of the names Kathy came up with. "And, um, yeah, it's him. I just… he's so hot!" she said, suddenly just as excited as her friend. It wasn't a lie, either, because he really was quite attractive – from a distance, anyway. She could do without a personality and hobby that matched her own.

Kathy shrieked from the other end. "I know, I know! Isn't he just so dreamy? Everything you could ever ask for?"

Minori's face suddenly fell in disappointment. Kathy probably got sucked in by his appearance, then, if she wasn't commenting on his horrible personality. "Ah… yeah! Everything and more." She laughed awkwardly.

They made small talk about this and that until Kathy made a gasping noise and started apologizing.

"It's already seven! Don't you need to go to that festival soon?"

Minori raised an eyebrow but quickly remembered her lie. "Oh! You're right, jeez, time flies so fast when I'm talking to you." She laughed with her friend, not completely faking but glad for the end of the conversation.

"Okay, bye Minori! Call me and let me know how it goes!"

She smiled. "Will do. See you."

Minori reattached the phone to the receiver on the wall and sighed, sinking down into a chair. She loved her friends back home, honestly, but sometimes she realized just how superficial they were.

Moving into the town made her so much more aware of a lot of things. How much she missed her parents, for one, but she was already twenty-two so she couldn't rely on them forever anyway. It felt like her friends were the ones who'd changed, but once she stopped to think about it, it was easy to see that it was her.

She'd gained respect for nature and animals, and especially farmers and how they earned their livings, and she'd met so many wonderful people and –

"Stalker!"

She clutched her chest, attempting to stop her heart from protruding through, and stared angrily at Raeger. "What… what do you think you're doing here? And in my doorway? Just what…" She heaved a sigh. "How long have you been there?"

He was a bit taken aback by her outburst but the smirk returned to his face after a moment. "Don't worry; I only heard the part about you and your friend gushing over my attractiveness."

Minori smacked her forehead. "How did you even get in?"

He shrugged indifferently. "Looks like you forgot to lock your door. I knocked four times, honestly, and you didn't answer. I could hear your voice, though."

"So you decided to just barge in?"

"Well, yeah," he said as if it was the most normal thing ever.

She groaned and tilted her head up towards the ceiling in frustration. "Look, you can't just – okay, fine, whatever. Just come in, you're letting in all the bugs."

Raeger laughed at her awkwardness but did as he was told, closing the door behind him. He took a few moments to glance around her house. "Y'know… I think I've only been here once before now, and I can understand why now." His expression turned sour as he eyed a pile of cardboard boxes in the corner next to the restroom. "You're very…"

"I like feeling comfortable at home," she said a bit too defensively, averting his gaze. "My parents weren't the neatest of people when I was growing up, so it's just what I'm used to."

She did feel a bit embarrassed by the messiness of everything, though, so when a few awkward silent moments passed she cleared her throat.

"So… why'd you come?"

He shrugged. "It's Wednesday. I'm bored."

"And… you figured I could entertain you because you can't go play with your girls," she said, nodding in understanding. It'd been a long time since she'd seen any of her old dates, too.

"But of course!" he agreed in mockery, a sarcastic expression playing on his face. He walked halfway through the large living area to the sofa and sank down, propping his feet up on the coffee table a foot away. "So entertain me."

Minori narrowed her eyes. That was her favorite coffee table; she didn't even allow herself to rest her feet on it. "The stuff you say can really be taken the wrong way, y'know," she said as she threw his feet off the table, making sure to glare at him so he got the point not to do it again.

He raised an eyebrow. "What did I say?"

She rolled her eyes. "Never mind, then. Just… do as you like, I guess. The television is behind the curtain but I don't have a remote so you'll have to get up yourself to turn it on and change channels. There's stuff in the fridge if you're hungry, but don't eat my cheesecake or I will viciously murder you and take over your restaurant."

Raeger laughed. "Again with those sweets. This bet will be over in no time, Minori." He sat up and glanced over to her. "So what are you going to do, if you're just leaving me here?"

"I have to tend to my crops growing in the other fields," she said, tying her hair up. "There's flax and mushrooms that need harvesting, and I think I have some odds and ends seeds in my pockets, so I'll look for a place for those."

"Sometimes I think you work harder than I do."

She smiled playfully. "I think everybody in this town works harder than you," she teased. "Even Fritz."

"Whoa, that was a low blow." He frowned.

Minori didn't respond, instead taking her leave through the front door. She felt a little strange leaving Raeger alone in her house, but just because he was a womanizer didn't mean he didn't know how to treat a house… right?

She sighed. She couldn't think about that right now. There really were crops that she needed to play around with first.

As her hand reached into her work clothes' pocket, she pulled out a few bags of seeds. Tomato, onion, spinach, and corn seeds revealed themselves in between tufts of pocket lint.

"Where did I get spinach seeds…?" she mused aloud. Spinach couldn't even be planted until next month.

She shrugged nonchalantly and returned them all to her right pocket. Maybe she just got them from being so friendly with Asche and doing some of her requests.

She clenched her fist in front of her, eager to get this done and over with. It was kind of funny, actually – she'd never, ever imagined herself to be a farmer, of all things. She was a city girl at heart, yet she found the farm work wasn't as tiring as she'd expected it to be. She liked it a lot.

Maybe, given enough time, some more guys would move in and give her more to live here for.

…

Minori pushed the door to her house open and trudged through it, panting. She let out several deep sighs as she dragged herself over to the sofa and leaned against it, resting her head on the back.

"Jeez, you sound exhausted."

"R-Raeger?!"

She jumped back instantly, forgetting all about her uninvited guest and his whereabouts. She tilted her head back and sighed, trying to calm herself down. "Gods… do you get some sort of sick thrill from scaring people like that?"

Raeger chuckled, turning around on the sofa to look at her. His eyes widened seeing the state she was in. "Don't you always brag about not getting tired from your work?"

She glared. "I don't want to hear that right now. What happened was totally beyond my control."

He didn't seem to press the matter any further, which she was grateful for, and she trod past him to get to the restroom.

"I'm going to get in the bath. You can stay if you so wish, but I'll probably just conk out afterwards so I won't be very entertaining like you wanted me to."

"Wait," he called out before she got to the door. His face looked a bit confused. "You're really not upset that I'll be here while you're in the bath?"

Minori scoffed and rolled her eyes. "The door has a lock, y'know. Besides, we're really not each other's type anyway."

He stared into space for a moment. "Is that so…"

"What?"

"No, nothing, nothing at all," he replied quickly, waving his hands in front of him. "Go take your bath. I'll be waiting." He flashed a grin, making her just a tad uncomfortable, but she shrugged it off apathetically.

"Yeah, sure."

She shut the door behind her, making sure he heard the already obvious clicking of the lock, before starting the water. After a few minutes had passed and the tub wasn't full yet, she almost regretted not starting it before she left.

As she stripped, she let out some quiet painful yelps where the clothes brushed over her wounds. Really, just how did she manage to anger an entire flock of birds like that? She thought animals liked her…

A sigh escaped her lips. That obviously wasn't true. She guessed she'd just have to try even harder to earn their trust – and not their pecks. And as if that wasn't enough, after the torment they put her through, she'd dropped the packets of seeds she was going to plant, and they opened, spreading the seeds in all the wrong places. That was why she was covered in all the dirt – she was looking for and picking up all the seeds she could save because those were her last tomato seeds and Asche wouldn't come back for a few more days…

"Ouch!" she cried, forgetting about the bruises she acquired from overfilling her watering can. It seemed like ever since she and Raeger started that stupid bet she'd been getting clumsier and clumsier.

"Minori? Are you all right?"

Speak of the devil, she thought. "Um, yeah! No need to worry, I just got a little banged up outside!"

He scoffed from the other side of the door. "Well, that much was obvious. Do you need some help?"

"No!" she shouted a little too loudly. "I mean, um… maybe, but not right now." Great, now he was going to think –

"So you want me to wait until you're getting out?" There was no masking the eager anticipation in his voice.

She sighed. "Jeez, Raeger, way to be subtle."

He laughed. "Are you sure you're fine?"

Minori winced in pain as she finally managed to yank off her shirt; her arms were incredibly sore, she noticed, though she didn't remember doing anything too strenuous. Ah, wait, there was yesterday when she hoed up all those new fields… Her body was only responding to it now, then.

"Y-yeah, it's all good in here," she replied lamely, knowing even he wouldn't buy that. In the few seconds he took to respond, though, she could try and pretend nothing was wrong. After all, there were only her pants and undergarments left now, and those couldn't have been too terribly hard to remove.

Her slacks left her easily enough, but when she reached up to unhook the clasp on her bra, she was met with the resistance of pain once more. "Ow, ow, ow…"

Raeger knocked on the door. "Hurry up and let me in so I can help."

"Absolutely not!" she retorted angrily. There was just no way she was going to let Raeger in there so he could gawk at her nearly-naked form. She would never give him that satisfaction as long as she lived.

His sigh brought forth her own, though. She really wasn't even close to his type – her breasts were average size at best, and she wasn't that skinny. Another small reason she decided to try out this farm work was so that she could get her exercise. She'd already dropped ten pounds, but that was way beside the case…

Just for good measure, she tried lifting her arms up just the little bit to reach the clasp, but she quickly gave up.

She could feel the grains of dirt sticking to the skin underneath, so it wasn't like she could skip out on the bath tonight.

There seemed to be no other way to go about this. Curse her stupid body and its intolerability towards pain.

"Okay…" she started slowly, "but you must absolutely not look at anything unless it is one hundred percent necessary! Do you promise?"

She swore she could hear his lips curve into that smirk.

"I promise."

It didn't sound completely insincere, but she couldn't trust it wholeheartedly. Though, she really did have no other choice – even if she unlocked the door now she would still have to streak through her living room to get to the phone and call up one of her girlfriends to help, and Raeger would undoubtedly see her anyway.

With a gulp she swallowed the rest of her pride and turned around to unlock the door. She squinted her eyes shut as she slowly twisted the knob to open up the door, grimacing in anticipation. She already knew that he wouldn't keep his promise, but she guessed she just had to see what his reaction would be –

"Flowers? Really?"

Her cheeks flushed and she turned her head away, immediately covering her chest with both arms, regretting her decision tenfold already. "I knew this was a bad idea. Get out, out!"

Raeger laughed. "Relax. It's not like you've got anything I haven't seen before."

She opened her mouth to retort, snapping her head towards him, but he clamped a hand over her mouth to keep it shut.

"Sorry, I guess that was a little insensitive. Anyway… where – how do you need my help?"

Minori narrowed her eyes as she tried to speak, obviously muffled by his hand.

He yanked it away. "Oh, sorry."

She cleared her throat awkwardly, shyly turning away once more, rubbing her left arm for comfort. "My… my bra… I can't take it off myself." After that confession she felt her heartbeat skyrocket. She'd never exactly been in this sort of situation before unless her partner was just as stripped as she was, and just the fact that this was Raeger, the guy she maybe sort of still had an unrequited thing for, put her on edge a little.

He snorted in the most unattractive way, muffling it with his hand off to the side. That didn't stop her from glaring at him, though.

"Okay, okay, turn around," he told her briefly, spinning her around himself.

"Wait!" she cried, trying to fight his hands.

He was confused for a moment or two but then realized what she was probably so worried about. "Is this why you're in so much pain?"

Raeger ran his hand along the bruises on her back, his touch so gentle that she barely even winced when he brushed over the patches. She closed her eyes, feeling all the heat in her body rise up to her face, and kept her whimpers to herself. Even though his fingers' tantalizing touch felt so good, she knew the only reason he was doing it was because of his underlying motive.

And that was to sleep with her.

It wasn't that she didn't want it to happen – because sometimes it was honestly all she ever thought about. It was more like she didn't want things to become awkward in an already too-small town. If they hooked up for a night, they'd still have to see each other every day because of the flow of things in the town; either that, or they'd have to start a relationship, and that wasn't something she was comfortable with in the slightest. All her past relationships had ended very badly, and that didn't seem like a good way to settle into town here.

As her thoughts continued to race, Raeger's hand began wandering dangerously low and she flinched.

"R-Rae…"

He retracted his hand immediately. "Sorry." He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Um, just stay put there, and I'll take it off for you."

She nodded, not daring to say anything else when her mind was this cloudy. She'd be lying if she said she didn't enjoy that little touch session.

His fingers slipped in between her skin and the cloth, and there was just a bit of tension before she felt the article of clothing fall off of her shoulders and onto the floor. It was rather quick, probably because of his experience with it, she noted.

She gulped, nearly strangling herself the way she attached her arms to her naked chest. "Y-you can go now, thank you." Her arms were starting to feel pained again, this time due to the tension of keeping them glued to her torso.

"Are you sure?" he asked, a playful tone in his voice that made her shiver. "You don't need me to stick around and help you take off your panties?"

"No!" she shouted instantly, turning around to glare at him. She wanted to slap him but for one, the muscles in her arm would suffer more, and for two, that meant her chest would be unguarded for the duration.

Raeger laughed. "All right, I got it." He pinched her side, wiggling around some of the flab that remained there with another laugh. "It's hard to believe you get so many dates when you're out of shape like this."

She turned her head, blushing. "I-it's nothing…"

"Nothing? There's stretch marks that are only just now starting to fade!"

"Then don't look!" she shrieked, closing her eyes. When he didn't respond she opened them back up to look at him, wishing she hadn't said that. He actually looked a little taken aback. She sighed. "Sorry. I'm just… a little insecure, I guess."

He smiled. "And that's why you take up any offer a guy gives you. It makes you feel better about yourself, right?"

Minori nodded slowly. This was beginning to feel like deja vu - though, if he really was drunk it would make sense why he didn't remember. "I guess… you could say that."

He ran a hand through his hair. "I get it. I mean, I understand why. I do the same thing, really." He sighed. "We've all got our bruises, inside and out."

"What?" she asked, eyes widened in shock. Raeger was such a playboy, though; didn't every guy who slept around have the same ego? At least, that was what happened in her experiences…

Raeger shook his head. "Never mind, forget I said anything. You really have nothing to worry about, though." He leaned down and planted a kiss on the same patch of skin he just pinched. "Your body is beautiful."

"Wh-wh-what?" she stuttered, cheeks as red as the strawberry soap on her vanity.

He chuckled. "Just stating the truth." He turned around and headed for the door, but glanced back towards her briefly. "When you come out, I'll make some of the apple pie you love so much. I went through your fridge to make sure you had all the ingredients – you don't, but I can improvise, I guess."

"Thanks," she said simply, smiling despite her blush. "I'll see you in a little bit."

He nodded, then went through the door and shut it. She didn't lock it this time.

She heaved a sigh and released the clutch her arms had on herself, slipping off her remaining undergarment before stepping into the bath. The water was already starting to cool down a bit, so she probably wouldn't soak for too long.

As she sank further down into the water, she exhaled away most of her troubles from the day, though one stuck out in her mind.

Rosy pink dusted her cheeks as she looked down at her left side. There weren't any marks from his kiss, but the general area felt very hot.

He's just teasing, she reminded herself briskly. It meant nothing; he was just getting his fix through her. If anything, she should've taken it as a compliment, because he wasn't hitting on his customers but on her instead, and if she really did harbor the feelings she thought she did for him… then that was something to be at least a little bit happy about.

But then again, maybe she was just growing more attached to him because of the whole bet. She hadn't been with any other men (apart from Fritz's attempted advances, which she still felt guilty about), so that caused her to latch herself onto any guy who even acted like he wanted her.

Her thoughts only confused her even more, so for the moment, she let everything go and dunked her head under the water. This wasn't the time to think about such things; she could dwell on them later, when Raeger was gone and after she'd eaten her promised pie.

Though, at least for now, she had to admit, this bet wasn't the worst thing that had happened to her.

~CGA