Author's Note:

Oh boy boy boy.

So I'm a little slack today bringing this next chapter to you all. But you all saw it coming. Anyway, some family stuff happened this time around.

Important: this chapter has flashbacks in it, they are in italics. Blah, blah, blah.

Warnings: yaoi; ha, ha if you have not got the clue yet then, HAVE YOU NOT BEEN READING MY OTHER AUTHOR'S NOTES SLKGSKGUIJRJG! BTW, yaoi is male/male relationships. I will also confirm now that a lemon is in the future, so please do not continue reading this story if you do not like male/male relationships nor lemons. Thank you.

I've been on vacation for a while, like I said before, but that time is closing to an end now. Unfortunately I will not be able to update Pick Your Battles until I've returned home where my stupid outline is, but I have no outline for this one so that means I can write it now. I have also begun work on two new series: Connected [Final Fantasy XIII] and 1000 Years [Final Fantasy X]. Both will be posted shortly after either this story has finished, or Pick Your Battles has finished, [and of course once I am satisfied that they are ready for viewing]. So until then,

Enjoy~

'Suck it Up Boys'

"Well…it started when I was hiking through Praline and I heard these voices…"

I was making my way down the trail and I heard shouting. I stopped and hid a ways from them to hear what they were saying, but I couldn't make out much…

Luke and Dr. Jin were arguing about something. I could tell Luke was mad because he was stamping his foot and waving his arms around as if frantic, but you know how the doctor is. He doesn't really show emotion. I do remember bits and pieces of the conversation, but none of it is any use to you.

They were just standing there, yelling at one another. Luke started shoving the doctor, but the doctor wouldn't hit back. He said something and then, it must've been bad because Luke slapped him. The doctor just stood there, motionless. Then that's when I was spotted by the doctor.

He seemed shocked and Luke caught on. He turned around and saw me then took off in a fast walk as if nothing happened. The doctor fled too. I didn't even try to ask what happened, I just started running away.

"And that's when I met up with Luna and Candace and told them everything." Kathy finished. She looked down, as if ashamed, but Angela shook her head and hugged her.

"Thank you so much for telling me Kathy. Don't worry, I'll figure out what's wrong with them and see if this is fixable." said Angela. "But in the end, it's Luke and the doctor's choice to figure this out. We'll just have to hope, won't we?"

Kathy nodded, hugging back, and sighed as she pulled away. "I just hope that they aren't mad at me for it." she said shyly. Angela laughed which surprised her blonde companion.

"No way Kathy. They shouldn't be after all it's not your fault you walked over there at that time. But still, I wonder what would make Luke so angry as to slap the doctor…" Angela wondered.

"I don't know but Irene says we should butt out. Maybe this is something serious Angela."

Angela and Kathy turned to see Toby standing there, a weary look on his face.

"Yah. Maybe it is, but we can't give up. We have to do something about Luke. Now let's get back and update with Bo." she said. They bowed to Kathy and thanked her for her information before taking their leave. A weary villager stood watching from afar, and turned away with a shadow clouding their eyes.

"So we basically heard the same thing?" Toby asked. Angela sighed.

"Looks like it. But at least we know part of the problem. Now we just have to get to the bottom of their argument. But I'm pretty sure that that fight is definitely related to Luke's anger and melancholy attitude." she explained. Toby nodded.

"Looks about right. Anyway, I wonder if Bo heard the same thing too. He said he'd talk to Julius and I'm pretty sure that Luna and Candace would have told him what happened, knowing them." he commented. Angela nodded as well.

"I agree. Now let's hurry over to Ganache Mine District!" Angela hollered. She raced off, Toby on her heels, until another familiar voice called out to them.

"Hey you two wait up!"

They turned and looked at the person calling them. To their surprise, it was Calvin, waving his arms frantically over his head. They quickly ran over.

"Hey, I was over at the mines when l heard. Dale lost Luke and can't find him anywhere. He wanted me to swing by and ask you if you'd seen him." said Calvin, breathing heavily from all the running around. Angela shook her head.

"No, haven't seen him since yesterday when he stormed off in the woods." she said sorrowfully. "I'm sorry."

Calvin shook his head. "So, have you found out what's wrong with Luke?" he asked. Angela looked at Toby.

"No, but we have a clue. All we know is it has something to do with an argument between him and the doctor." explained Angela. Calvin raised an eyebrow.

"Dr. Jin? Really? What could he possibly have against the doctor?" he wondered. Just then they heard more shouting as Bo ran up to them, huffing and puffing.

"G-guys…Luke…he fell in…the woods…get…him to…clinic…" Bo struggled to say through his heavy breathing. Angela sweatdropped.

"Gee, how ironic. Well, let's get him over there. It's just…wonder if it's a bad idea with Luke being mad and all at the doctor." said Angela. Bo had managed to catch his breath and held his hand to his chest.

"Yes well, he'll have to get over it. And who knows, maybe talking to the doctor this time will be good for them both and they could settle their differences, you know?" he said. He ran off, the other three following close behind.

"Luke!" Bo shouted. He ran under the trees and stopped short at Luke sitting on the ground. He seemed to be scowling and turned his head away, refusing to look at Bo.

"Hey, what happened?" asked Angela as she squatted in front of the sapphire haired carpenter. He kept his gaze turned away from her.

"Stumbled. Must've sprained my ankle. But I'll be fine, I'll go home and it'll be fine tomorrow." he said. Angela knew that Luke was aware they wanted to send him to the clinic. And, she knew that's the last place Luke wanted to be.

"No Luke. You need to see Jin." she said firmly. Suddenly Luke slammed his fist down onto the ground, his cat-like yellow eyes blazing with fury.

"No! I'm not going to the clinic!" he shouted angrily. Angela sighed heavily.

"Why not? Luke you can't let your ankle stay like this."

"BECAUSE I HATE HIM!" he screamed. Angela could see Luke shaking slightly. There were remnants of tears in his eyes, but he wouldn't shed them. Instead, he turned his face away again before grabbing a nearby tree and hoisting himself up off the ground.

"Luke you're not thinking of-"

"I am! And if any of you try to stop me I'll take you down myself!" Luke shouted. He grabbed another nearby tree and limped past it. Angela sighed.

"Luke please listen to us. We're trying to help you." she said wearily. Luke growled and turned to face her, pointing a finger in her direction.

"I don't need anyone's help. You think I should confront my problems, but I won't. I'd rather just ignore them, because one day they'll fade away." something seemed to flicker in Luke's eyes when he said it. "Fade away like always."

Angela furrowed her eyebrows at this. What did Luke mean by that? Once Luke was out of earshot, Angela turned to the others. "Bo, can you keep an eye on Luke?" she asked. Toby sighed.

"You have something in mind?" he asked. Calvin nodded.

"I think I know." he said softly. Angela nodded as well.

"Yes, it's time to visit the doctor. We all know Luke's got a temper so of course he reacted this way. But hopefully Dr. Jin will react differently…and that he won't recoil like Luke has." she answered. Bo waved and disappeared into the forest. Angela turned to her other two companions, and off they went to Maple Lake District.

Bo was huffing and puffing by the time he reached Luke who sat in front of a small riverbed. The other carpenter didn't even look up, too busy nursing his ankle to notice. Bo sighed and sat down next to Luke, watching him.

"Luke-"

"I know." Luke interrupted. He kept his gaze to his ankle as he tied some cloth around it. "Everyone always says, 'you can't run from the past'. But I can. I always have, just like pa. He ran away from mom dying. He ran away from all his troubles. So I learned to do the same, because it's easier to pretend nothing happened instead of hurting more by facing it." he said calmly. Bo placed a hand on Luke's shoulder.

"Luke, tell me what happened. Please." he said, imploring his friend. Luke looked over at Bo and sighed.

"I wish I could." and Luke looked away. He grabbed a stone and skipped it across the river. "But I can't."

"Why?" Bo asked. He watched Luke carefully, and was baffled when Luke smiled.

"Because you'll try to fix it. Everyone is, and that's just not gonna happen with me. I want things this way. If I never try to patch things up, and things stay the way they are, I wouldn't mind." he said. Bo gritted his teeth.

"But what if no one else does, Luke? What if the doctor minds? What then?" he asked. Luke looked at and then back, chuckling. It made Bo sick.

"Why should I care if Jin's upset about it? He's the reason it started in the first place. I think, he'd be happy things turned out this way." said Luke thoughtfully. He studied the river, Bo still watching him.

"That's a rotten thing to say." Luke grunted, his gaze still down.

"Maybe it is. I know two wrongs don't make a right, but they can in my head can't they?" Luke turned to Bo. "Go on back to pa's. He'll wonder why you haven't come back yet. And anyway, I'll be fine here." he turned back to the river. Bo sighed and stood up.

"Sometimes, it sucks to know you Luke." he said. He walked off, his footsteps disappearing over time. Luke smiled as the first tear fell.

"Yah, I know." he said to no one at all. "It sucks even to be me."

"Are you sure about this Angela? What if the doctor's just as upset as Luke?" said Toby, running beside her. He honestly was not in the mood for running. He was more, the sleeping type.

Angela stopped and looked at him incredulously, Calvin stopping too. "You want to turn back now?" she said, huffing and puffing. Toby sighed.

"I just think that maybe, Irene is right. What if barging in on their issues only makes things worse?" Toby explained. Calvin scratched his head.

"Look, I know that this is wrong and that we should probably do what Irene says, but we'd be doing exactly what Luke's doing now: ignoring the problem and hoping it goes away on it's own. You have to nudge things along if you want things to happen." said Calvin, wisely.

"Yah but-" Toby looked down, defeated. Angela put a hand to his shoulder.

"Toby, this is extremely important. You saw how upset Luke was. What if the doctor is just as bad off? We can't let things like that continue especially when it starts affecting your health. Luke's not even going to get his ankle looked at, over some argument with Jin. Things like that aren't tolerable. We have to do something." she reasoned. Toby nodded.

"Yah, you're right." he said softly. Calvin gave him a slap on the back.

"Good, then let's go."

They raced off again, reaching Maple Lake quickly. As they neared Jin's house, Toby's stomach flipped a few times and nervousness set in.

Finally they got to the porch, still out of breath, and Angela knocked on the door. The three waited patiently until the door opened, and Jin showed up.

"Doctor, we know about your fight with Luke and…it may be serious or it may be silly, but Luke's so torn up that when he sprained his ankle he refused to get help for it. And it's none of our business but, this has to stop." she said firmly. Jin stood there, staring at her as if she were speaking Spanish. He looked at the other two and looked at the sky briefly before looking back at them.

"Well?" said Angela. Jin raised his shoulders.

"Well what?" he answered. "Look, this isn't going to get anywhere with all of us standing here. If Luke wants to act like a child then let him. He's taking things way too seriously over something I said. Now, you all are expecting a lot to happen right now and, quite frankly, it's not working. I'm a doctor, not a miracle worker. And Luke's not understanding. If he could get over the argument fine, but if he can't, I'm sorry. There isn't anything I can do." he finished. Angela frowned.

"But Jin if you let things continue like this then what? This is ridiculous and I can't believe you're saying stuff like that. He's in need of medical assistance at least." she insisted. Jin rolled his eyes.

"Angela you aren't seeing the bigger picture here. It's more than just a sprained ankle. You want to know what he's doing? He's trying to make me feel bad. He's mad that I had the 'audacity' to say what I have. If he's really bad off then my grandmother Irene as well as Perry are still at the clinic right now. He could easily get some help over there. Now, no more of this foolishness." he said. Angela shook her head.

"It's not foolish Jin. You're doing what Luke's doing. You're both running away to keep from having to face things. Maybe you guys said something or did something you're ashamed of inside, and you don't want to say sorry because we all know how brazen you both are. You're willing to let things continue to spiral if it means you don't have to admit guilt. You want Luke to grow up? Then prove to him he's the childish one and fix the problem before it gets more serious." she said. At that moment Jin averted his gaze, and Angela knew she'd hit a nerve.

"C'mon doctor." Calvin said. Jin sighed heavily.

"Fine. I'll talk to him. But he pushes away then I can't help you anymore." he said. Angela smiled.

"Thank you. And we promise to butt out." she said. She waved and turned, Calvin and Toby following behind.

"Remember he's in the forest alright!" Toby shouted as Angela pulled him along.

"C'mon Toby I'm sure he knows."

The three continued, every once in a while pulling pranks on the other or pushing each other off the road. Jin watched, leaning against the doorframe of his house. Finally, he closed the door, and set off to find Luke.

Author's Note:

Oooh, I pulled a fast one huh? I'm great with cliff's. And it's a semi short chapter...darn...

Nah I'm just being dumb. Anyway, I promise you will learn the root of the problem in the next chapter. That means drama and angst folks. And lots of sad Luke. Well, Jin could be sad, but he doesn't show it much. And just so you all know I spazz when I write Jin lines. He's my all-time favorite in Harvest Moon. Luke's second with Chase, Gil, and Juli-pants following close third (Juli-pants is a nickname for Julius XDD). And now it's time to finish chapter six of Pick Your Battles, which is in progress peoples.

Review please!