Here's the update... chapter two!

This all seems like a type-as-you-go-story for me. I have some ideas planned out, then I as I write it, I think of new ones... XD Hah... does it seem that way to you people that read this? Just curious. XD

As a clarification... the break up with Kai happened about a week ago. Just wanted to point that out...

Claire gets over things pretty fast though. wink wink

Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon.


Chapter 2-Klutziness

I strolled over toward my farm, luggage in hand. Wow. This needed a lot of work. Ugh... and I was so tired too... I didn't get much sleep, and it was still early.

"Ahem..." a new voice spoke.

I whirled around, yanked from my reverie.

"Uh... hi," he said. "I'm the mayor of this town... just to let you know. My name's Thomas. You are...?"

"Claire," I said quietly, while appraising the hat and outfit he wore. This guy's fashion sense was doomed.

"All right! Well then... if you need any tips on farming or any type of help at all, please let me know!" he said happily.

He turned around, gave a cheery wave, and strode out of my doomed-looking farm.

I stared. That was kind of creepy. I took my key from my pocket and unlocked the door to reveal a very small one room house. I sighed. It looked pretty bad, but I guess I was lucky that there was a bed, table and chair, and even a TV. There was also a small dresser tucked into a corner...

I stuffed my suitcases into a corner of the house examining the interior of it while standing. I gave up, and sat down on the hard, though smooth wooden floor. I unpacked slowly, taking each possession out and putting my clothes into the dresser. I continued this fashion; taking stuff out and putting them into their respective places. I did bring a few kitchen utensils, and a bit of that food in cans (which needed to be cooked), but there was no kitchen, which posed a slight problem. I didn't have much gold on me either. Gah. This sucked.

That's when I noticed there was no bathroom. Ugh... what the heck? What type of house had no bathroom? How was I supposed to...? I let that thought trail off as I sat on a chair, noticed a small box. Curious, I went over and peeked inside.

I picked up the hoe, watering can, a bag of seeds, an axe, and a hammer and placed it all into my bag, turning to go outside and get at least something accomplished on this farm today.

--

After much work, I wiped the sweat off my brow, admiring the work that I had completed in front of me. Actually, I was slightly surprised at myself. About three quarters of the farm was clear of all junk, except for the rocks and tree trunks too large for me to dispose of. How do you get rid of those things anyway? I tried repeatedly to smash that damn stump and nothing happened. I think I twisted my ankle wrong when I tripped over a branch too... it wasn't exactly sprained (I don't think it was, but what do I know?) just badly stretched out... I could still walk... ugh, I was so clumsy.

I realized, slightly late, that I maybe should go and acquaint myself with Mineral
Town folks... oops... I just got caught up with the farming I guess...

I tossed my tools into my rucksack, and walked out of the northern path leading out of my farm.

Sooner or later, I was going to need a shower or a bath of some sort. And I had no idea what to do about that. I had no bathroom... maybe I'll ask someone about it...

It was around mid-afternoon, a brilliant shining sun sparkling down on the quaint town. I walked on the cobblestone path, and almost ended up smashing against a door.

I sighed. Good job, klutzy.

The door flipped open, hitting my face.

"Arghh!" I yelled out, as I rubbed my nose.

"I-I'm sorry! I-I didn't m-mean...!" a panicky and horrified voice spoke.

"I..." I looked up, and saw a flushed looking guy with messy brown hair that flipped out in the front and was tied into a ponytail in the back. He had dark brownish eyes, and wore a vest of some sort...

If possible, it seemed he got even more panicky.

"I-I-I umm... I-I'm sorry! I d-didn't see you! I...!" his voice broke off again, his cheeks turned a shade of red as he looked down.

"Uh..." I mumbled.

"Um, I-I need to go, um... I'm sorry I hit you!" he apologized again.

"T-that's fine," I mumbled.

He nodded once more, flushed, and ran off in the opposite direction.

Huh. Um... I didn't really get what was happening there... huh... that did happen fast... that guy... he was so totally freaked out or something. He looked like I would hit him with one of my tools if he didn't apologize or something... I didn't look that evil, did I? I thought I didn't... but... I guess one never knows...

I stepped cautiously through the door, and noticing that this was probably the Inn. I walked up to the counter, where a red-head stood with a cheerful expression.

"Hi!" she called to me. "You look new here. Did you take that farm?"

"Hi," I said to her. "The farm? Oh... ya, I did."

"Cool!" she said, smiling at me. "My name's Ann, what's yours?"

"Claire," I told her, smiling slightly in return.

Her smile faltered slightly. I gazed at her quizzically.

"Anyway!" she continued, her face suddenly brightening. "So why'd you buy the farm?"

"I..." I faltered. I didn't really want to tell her I moved her to get over someone... and just to get a change of scenery. I wouldn't tell her... not yet...

"Oh!" she seemed to catch on. "Sorry, I shouldn't have asked..."

"No... it's fine...," I replied swiftly and softly, looking down.

Ann opened her mouth to say something back, but she was stopped by an "ANN!"

"Hold on a sec," she told me. "Hold on Dad!"

"What?"

"Wait!"

"What?"

"Ugh... JUST COME OUT HERE!" Ann yelled loud enough for that person to hear.

He came running out. "Ann, could you help...?" he cut off when he saw me. "Oh. Hello. You must be new here. I'm Doug. You are?"

I'm Claire. I bought the farm here..."

He chuckled. "Oh yes... that's right. Thought I heard Ann saying something about that...," he said, still chuckling to himself.

Ann seemed to have flushed a faint pink.

"Dad!" she complained.

He chuckled again. "So Claire... how would you like to have a meal here? Free of charge," he added, as I reached toward my wallet. "Under one condition though."

I looked at him questioningly.

"You come back here to visit Ann-I'm sure she'll like the company!"

"Dad!" Ann flushed a soft pink. "Stop it!"

I smiled. A little bit. Ann seemed like a very likeable person. I'd need a good friend or two.

"Sure," I promised, smiling at Ann.

She returned it with a grin. Doug went back into the kitchen, promising that my meal would be out soon.

I waited while Ann told me to sit down somewhere. A few minutes after I was there, he came out and set a dish with a drink in front of me. It did look good...

"Here you are," he said with a jovial smile. "Grape juice and cheese fondue!"

I ate it. Real fast. I didn't realize I was that hungry. And it was so good.

"Thanks," I sighed contently. "That was really good!"

Doug just laughed. "I'm glad you enjoyed it!"

I smiled and waved, and left the Inn. As I was going to walk around the corner, someone called my name.

"Claire! Wait for meeeee!" she yelled.

I turned around and Ann almost smashed into me.

"Hey," I said, giggling. "What's up?"

She grinned. "Do you want me to introduce you to everyone?" she asked exuberantly. "I'll come with you!"

"Sure, but don't you have a job?"

She shrugged. "My dad said I could come with you. I'm sure my dad can handle the very-few-customers that we get there. You know, the town is only so small," she informed me.

I smiled. "All right. Let's go."

She took my hand, leading me.

"Ooh... let's go and meet Mary! And Karen and Cliff and Rick and Popuri and-"

"Okay, Ann. Let's go."

She grinned again and towed me off into the direction of a farm.

--

"I'll see you later, Claire, Ann," Mary said quietly, waving as we left the library.

"Wasn't that cool, Claire?" Ann asked me. "We've met almost everybody now!" she grinned, then it faltered abruptly.

I noticed the change... just like last time...

"Ann? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. It's nothing," she answered innocently.

I scrutinized her. "Are you sure? You look kind of... down... all of a sudden..."

"It's nothing," she assured me with a little more force. "Come on, let's go."

"But Ann-"

Her jovial mood was back. "Come on Claire, let's gooooo!! We-well, you,-still have to meet Gray and Saibara!"

I sighed and cringed slightly as grabbed my wrist and pulled me. Ow... she had one strong grip... I don't think I could get out of it even if I tried to.

--

The days seemed to fly by. Days became weeks... my schedule was fairly simple. I usually got the farm work done, and then I either went to the Inn to talk to Ann, or to the library to read some novels, and talk to Mary. Or, sometimes, like today, we'd all go over to Mary's library when it was closed so that we couldn't be disturbed by others. (It was Ann's idea.)

Overall, Mary was pretty nice, she was fairly shy and quiet too, and I enjoyed her friendship. I liked reading novels, and she helped me pick out a few good ones.

Ann was just as bubbly as ever, and geez, did she have a grip! She was entertaining to be around, and nice person. So, ya, I was having a fairly good time in Mineral Town so far, and it was about a week and a bit until summer was here.

And... there were some pretty cute guys here. One cuter than the rest... even though I thought that... I couldn't get over him that fast... well... having nice friends, and seeing cute guys kind of helps the fact of moving on.

I was fairly happy as I walked over to Mary's library today. It was another one of Ann's ideas. She said that it was an, "urgent meeting". Though "urgent" could mean just getting together and talking for the rest of the afternoon and evening, according to Ann. I wasn't complaining, it was pretty fun.

I was really getting used to this farming thing too. Get up, do morning stuff, water crops/harvest crops. I really needed to get some animals too. Cows, sheep, and chickens was what I needed, and I almost had enough to get some... and... I now had a bathroom (made by Gotz) in my house, thankfully... my next goal was a kitchen.

I stepped into Mary's library, closing the door behind me.

"Oh! Ann? Claire?"

"Just Claire," I answered her softly.

"Oh, hi Claire! Do you know when Ann's coming?" she asked, as she came down the stairs, adjusting her glasses.

"She said around twelve-thirty...," I told her. I looked at my watch. "Oh... she should be here in about... ten minutes or so..."

"You know, Ann's a nice friend and all, but sometimes, she takes things waay out of control," Mary giggled.

"Ah," I smiled slightly. "I know... it's so Ann. She sets a time and place to do one of these, "urgent meetings", and she ends up coming late." I giggled along with Mary.

We stopped after a little.

"So, do you enjoy summer?" I asked. "The month's coming so soon... in a week and a bit?"

"Oh, yes, summer is a wonderful season... though sometimes, it's just too warm out, and I can't get anything done...,' she sighed. "What about you?" she asked me curiously.

"Ah, summer's all right. Like you said, sometimes, it's too warm, but sometimes the hot weather is nice..."

A sudden flurry of wind and the sound of the door opening made me look over in that direction.

"No way. Ann is five minutes early?" I asked incredulously.

Mary giggled. "We were prepared to wait longer," she told her between giggles.

"Ha ha. Very funny. I'm glad you have so much confidence in me." She rolled her eyes. "I am known to make early appearances."

We both giggled. Then, after a bit, our giggles slowly died down.

"So, why'd you want us here, Ann?" Mary questioned.

"Well...," she started.

"WAIT! Is it because you wanted to talk about... hmm-"

Ann silenced Mary with a look.

"As I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted," she teased, then continued, "how about a sleep over at my place? Tonight?"

We stared blankly at her. We snapped out of it after a few seconds.

"Oh... um... all right. Just let me go inform my parents about this, they'll probably agree," Mary was the first to speak.

I nodded. "I'm in."

Ann grinned at both of us.

"Good thing you guys agreed," she said sheepishly.

"Why?"

"I-uh... already set up everything... and cleaned everything..."

Mary rolled her eyes. "As usual, always prepared."

I laughed. "What about the food? Just going to leave it rot there?"

"NO! I put it away... it's ready at any given time," she said, with a gleam in her eye.

--

"See you tonight!" I called to Ann and Mary as I walked out onto the cobblestone path.

"We will talk about that tonight, Claire," Ann told me sternly. "You can't get away with 'Uhhh's' and 'umm's' and 'no I don't's'!' I understand perfectly well why you were acting like that a few weeks ago with Gray!" She paused. Even if you don't confirm it, I will have my assumptions." She grinned evilly.

I rolled my eyes. "If you know, why won't you give up?" I asked calmly, no hope in my voice.

She smirked evilly at me. "It's more fun this way to make you admit it."

I rolled my eyes. Mary smiled at me and waved. She, unlike Ann, didn't bug me.

I closed the door, and stepped out. A gentle breeze tousled my hair behind me. The streetlamps were not on yet, but they would be soon. I had about two hours until Ann's impromptu sleepover at the Inn. I needed to go and get some stuff from my house... and try to distract Ann from the topic of Gray. I knew I was being childish about it... but I wouldn't confirm it to Ann...

I walked farther, quickening my pace, but to an extent. My ankle still bothered me.

What happened next did nothing to help my ankle. I bumped into something or someone hard. Or maybe that something or someone just bumped into me hard. Whatever it was, it was going at a fast pace. The impact of it sent me flying down to the pavement.

"Ah!" I complained, bracing myself quickly for the pain that would be coming when I hit the ground. It never came. I felt a pair of warm, calloused hands grab me by my shoulders and set me gently onto my feet instead.

Um... what? What happened?

I opened my eyes to see Gray in front of me.

I flushed red. Ugh. Why did I have to humiliate myself in front of him? Curse my stupid klutziness! I hoped that Ann wasn't watching...

He gazed at me, cerulean eyes piercing into my dull blue ones.

"Are you okay?" he asked quietly.

"I-I..."

I was about to tell him that I was fine, but that's when I realized the throbbing pain in my right ankle. Great. It was probably sprained really badly now.

"I-I'm fine," I told him No need for him to worry over my stupid klutziness, and waste his time most likely fixing my sprain (the Clinic was closed)... Though he did find out about my klutziness when I first met him a few weeks ago...

Ann dragged me over to the blacksmiths last. We entered the door, into a stuffy, claustrophobic room. There were faint scents of metal... burning metal...

"GRAY!" an old-looking man addressed him.

"What!?"

"Pay attention to you work!" he yelled.

Gray fumbled with his tools; slowly the scent of over burnt metal filled the room.

"Hi, Saibara! Hi, Gray!" Ann said to get their attention.

The two looked up. Gray seemed to flush a tiny bit, but Saibara was unfazed.

"Hello, Ann," he greeted her. "And who might this be?" he gestured toward me.

"Hi. I'm Claire," I answered him.

Saibara turned around. "Gray! You could at least say your greetings to the young lady here!"

He grumbled something incoherent; then he looked up at me.

"Hi," he mumbled, then quickly seemed fascinated by the messed-up-looking tool on the table. He pulled his hat so the front part of it covered his eyes.

Saibara grumbled something along the lines of 'sorry' and 'doesn't say much'.

Little did I know that he doesn't say much, but yet he did so much...

There was a loud clattering sound, and the distorted-looking tool fell onto the ground a couple of paces ahead of me.

"Crap," Gray muttered, gazing at the tool, seeming to decide whether or not he should pick it up or not.

I walked forward to offer to pick it up, and I tripped. (Probably on my own feet-there was nothing on the floor). My hand collided into the worktable as I fell, and the tool pressed uncomfortably into my wrist, my head hit the hard floor hard. Blackness enveloped me...

--

"Ugh...," I mumbled, moving.

"Claire!" Ann's voice was frantic. "Are you okay?"

I heard another gruff voice beside me.

"I think she's okay... just a sprain and a few bruises," he said softly. "It's badly sprained though...".

I opened my eyes, and tried to shoot myself up, then recoiled quickly as pain shot through my head and arm.

"Ow..."

That's when I realized, that I was still in the little claustrophobic, metal-ish smelling room.

"W-what...? I... where-?" I muttered, but Ann stopped me.

"You just passed out," she informed me.

"Passed... out...? Oh... how... how long was I out?"

"Just a couple of minutes. Not too long," she told me, her worried voice ceasing a bit.

I sat up and leaned against the wall, with the help of Ann. Surprisingly, Gray was there too, along with Saibara... a random thought passed through me... why wasn't I at the clinic if everyone had a freaked out expression?

Then I felt gentle fingers brush along my wrist. I flinched, startled.

Gray looked up, and pulled his hand back. "S-sorry," he mumbled. "I told you we should've brought her to the Clinic instead!" he said to Saibara.

Saibara shook his head. "The Clinic isn't open now, and haven't you wanted to test out your medical skills? That's why you took schooling for it you know," he finished.

Hmm? Gray... a doctor? He looked more like a blacksmith to me. Huh. Maybe he did both jobs... oh well. My head was throbbing too much anyway; it made thinking into things hard.

"Are you... are you a doctor too?" I blurted out, instinctively, and then I realized how stupid that must have sounded. I bit my lip.

He looked surprised at my question. "Not quite," he mumbled. "But I do know more than an average person would at finding sprains and knowledge about medicine, but much less than Doctor Tim," he added.

"Oh."

"Um... if you don't mind... can I look at your wrist...?" he asked, somewhat hesitantly. "Or, you know, if you don't want me to do it, I'll go get the Doctor and Elli... the Clinic is locked, but I think I'll be able to get in somehow..."

"Um.. no, it's fine. You can do it if it's easier for you to." I extended my arm out to him. He carefully took my wrist, and started prodding at it gently. Finding, I supposed, where the sprain was exactly.

His fingers brushed over the spot that hurt the most, and I think he must have seen my minute flinching, because he nodded, grabbed a tensor bandage, and started wrapping it around my wrist.

"This will help support your sprain," he told me. "You should ice it though. Take off the bandage at night when you go to sleep, ice it, then put it back on. Sprains take a long time to heal."

I nodded. Dang, how was I supposed to do my farm work now...?

He smirked at me. "I'm guessing you're wondering how you'd perform farm work," he said, as if he could read my mind. "Well... I don't think you can... if you use your right hand, you might re-sprain it. It'll take longer to heal. You could try your left hand, or get someone to help you..." he trailed off.

"I-uh... o-okay," I stuttered, catching his gaze.

It was so quiet for a moment that I didn't know Ann was there... until she started giggling. I caught her eye, and there was a mischievous grin on her face, and her eyes gleamed. Gray stared at her blankly. I'm sure I looked the same. She shot me a knowing glance, and stopped giggling after I sent her a glare.

Gray took a step back.

"Thank you," I told him, my voice full of gratitude.

He just nodded, cerulean eyes gazing into mine... I felt my face redden, and I looked away, letting my curtain of blond hair cover my cheeks. From the corner of my eye, I thought I saw him flush and walked swiftly to the other room.

With the remainder of my blush fading, I got up slowly, and glanced at Ann. She giggled at me, her eyes sparkling.

"D-don't get any ideas...!"

She just grinned in response.

Ah... it made me wonder...

Gray scrutinized me and said, "Claire? A-are you okay...?"

The searing pain through my ankle shot through when I applied force to it, which, in turn, snapped me out of my reverie.

I bit my lip, removing weight from my right foot, trying to distract myself from the pain fading slowly...

"F-fine," I answered him.

I hoped that his quick eyes didn't catch my stress.

He scrutinized me, ocean blue eyes flickering over to my ankle and back to my face.

"I... don't think so," he said softly. "Can you walk?"

"Y-yes! I-I'm fine! I can walk perfectly fi-" I cut off, attempting to walk, but failing. Ugh. The injury was worse than I thought.

I tumbled forward, towards the pavement again, losing my balance as pain shot through my ankle again.

"Ahh!"

"Hmm," he mumbled as he gripped my shoulders again before I hit the ground.

I blushed, red colouring my cheeks.

"You sprained it, didn't you?" he accused me in a rough tone.

I looked down, letting my blond hair cover my face.

"No, I-I'm fine... I tripped..."

He gazed at me, skeptical.

"I know you sprained you ankle! Don't try hiding it!" he accused me.

I flinched.

"I... did..." I admitted, not fully wanting to say it.

He began with a softer tone. "Do you want me to clean it up, or do you want me to bring you to the clinic?"

I blushed. I wanted him to do it... but... that would sound weird, wouldn't it, coming from a girl that he barely knows? I don't even know why he's stood here with me for this long... why he even offered to fix it up for me was beyond my knowledge...

"C-can you do it...?" I wasn't quite able to meet his gaze when I said this.

He nodded, and then paused. "Hmm... maybe it's best for the Doctor to do it..." he mused.

"No!" I blurted out. I regretted saying it as soon as it was out. Why did I just do that? I hope he didn't make too much of that comment... I cringed internally.

He looked at me, a strange expression on his face.

"I-I-I mean, uh... f-fine, I guess Doctor Tim could do it...," I finished, eyes downcast. "Clinic's open this time," I tried to joke weakly.

"Oh," he said in the strangest tone. I couldn't identify it... "If... if that's what you want..."

My head whirled back up.

"Ah...! But... but... you know... I... um...," I swallowed. He waited patiently. "I... would like you to do it..." I couldn't keep eye contact with him when I said it. "But... um... if you... you know, don't want to, I-I can't really force you to, so I guess I could go to the Clinic," I babbled a little. The result of that? I blushed again; a dark red coloured my cheeks this time.

I was looking downward, so it shocked me when he took my hand and wound it around his shoulder, and put his other hand around my waist, helping me walk.

"Come on then," he said. "Be careful not to walk too much on the injured ankle... you can lean on me..."

He helped me hobble toward my farm. I swear I saw a flash of a red-head and a smirk when I looked behind me.


Chapter 2 is completed. :) I hope it didn't suck too much... so please, tell me what you thought of it! (In a form of a review... :)).

I think I kinda messed with Gray's character a little bit. I'm not sure, but I think I made him a bit nicer than he usually is...Heh... and apparently, I gave Gray a head full of more-than-average medical knowledge. Let me know what you think of that. XD