Haha how long has it been? A year? Who knows... I honestly wasn't planning to update this anytime soon, but I feel like there's a decent amount of people that are interested in this now, so I'll give it another chance. I hope you guys like this. I feel it went pretty well

Disclaimer: I don't own Harvest Moon. Natsume does.

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The walk – or what you could call a sprint – was really quite nice. It's a good thing I was in shape, because Luke was insanely fast. I guess that's what happens when your job is chopping down trees and carrying them to the other side of the island.

Even though it was probably a bad idea to run while carrying two axes, Luke didn't seem to care. The way he handled them reminded me of a skilled dancer. They were like an extension of himself, and it never seemed to phase him that he could easily kill both of us with one false step.

Running with Luke was definitely dangerous, but something about his carefree attitude made me feel like none of the hardships in life really mattered. It was like being a child again.

Regardless, it was a good run. It had been such a long time since I'd gone and just goofed off for a while. The feeling of the ocean spraying into my face as the waves hit the rocks below was incredible. The salty wind in my face really was amazing on a day like this. I laughed as I felt the energy coursing through my body, as I saw our shadows dash across the rocks. It was really quite saddening as we arrived at the entrance to the forest.

"Aw man! I love a good run!" Luke stretched his arms out above his head and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He really was a carefree spirit. I had all but forgotten why we had run all the way out there.

"Ya, that was nice." I slunk down into the grass under one of the trees and looked out at Flute Fields. The flowers behind Marimba Farm seemed to go on forever, and on a day like today I felt like they could.

"Pretty great, isn't it?" He sat next to me with a slight smile. "Ruth and Craig might not seem like it, but they're really passionate about those plants." He laid down and stared up at the trees. I couldn't see how that could be true. Ruth was droopy and monotone, and Craig was rough and crude...not that I had a problem with that, but it seemed impossible for them to be passionate about anything.

"How? Every time I see them they seem so bored with...everything."

He looked at me and sat up and looked back out at the fields. "Could you imagine going through all that work every day if you didn't have fun doing it?" He shook his head quickly. "They aren't the kind of people that express their feelings with smiles and words, but with their actions. Most people don't realize that." He suddenly jumped up with a random burst of energy. "Hey! We got a lot of work today! Let's go!" With that he pulled me to my feet and took off into the woods with me in tow.

I wondered what was going on in his head. I could tell that he really was pretty careless, but I couldn't help but sense that there was more there. I guess I'd just have to wait and see.

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I liked Fugue Forest. It was nice and cool, so it was a good break from the 90 degree heat. The trees were so thick that you could hardly see the sky. In spite of the coverage from the sun, the Forest wasn't even dark. In fact, there was a sort of bluish hue over the whole thing. "How does it stay so light in here when the sun's blocked?"

He grinned, "It's the Fugue Mushrooms. They glow, and are supposed to be magic. They're kinda a legend around here. There's also supposedly a witch that lives out here, but no one's seen her for a really long time."

"A witch?" I had a hard time believing there could be anything like a witch of magic mushrooms out here. There were so many scientific signs that magic didn't exist, and I wasn't about to start thinking like a five year old again.

"Heh, I don't know. I think it'd be cool if there was one. They say that the fortune teller's a wizard, but they've never seen him do any magic or anything."

A wizard? I doubt it. I thought that he must be some sort of fake. I could just imagine it; a creepy old man with tarot cards stuffed up his sleeves, living alone in his house. He must be a pretty sad sight.

He fiddled with the handles on his hammers for a minute, then immediately lit up. "Hey! Stop distracting me! We got trees to chop down!" He laughed as he punched the air.

I couldn't help but laugh at his random spurts of energy. He really was like a hyper little kid some times. The attitude he carried also seemed to be contagious. I instantly felt so enthusiastic about hard, physical labor... Maybe it was the heat.

"So what do we do first?"

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The day went really well in my opinion. Most people would probably be bored to tears if they had to chop trees and smash rocks all day, but having Luke there made the whole thing a lot more enjoyable. He was the kind of guy that could make anything fun.

Chopping at trees was really tiring though. While it wasn't too bad having Luke help me swing properly, (yes, I got to feel his muscles) I was still unbelievably sore after we had gathered all of the material that was necessary for the upgrade. I stared at the pile of lumber and stone and couldn't help but feel worn out at the thought of carrying them all the way back to my house. I wondered how I was going to get them to my house as quickly as possible.

"Umm, are you okay?" Luke gave me a frightened look, like I was about to explode or something.

"Uhh, ya. Why?"

"Well you look, like, really pissed. It's okay, I can carry this stuff myself, you can just go on ahead of me." He rushed over to the material and started packing it in his bag.

"You think I'm mad?" I couldn't understand. Why would I be mad? "I'm not mad, Luke. I don't expect you to carry all this stuff by yourself. You've already done enough for me today." I walked over to the material and tried to pack up some lumber.

"Are you sure?" He straightened up, and looked at me with a sincerely confused look on his face, "You still look mad right now..." He looked down at the material like he wanted to pack the rest of it.

"Oh, geez..." I get it," Don't worry about it, that's just sorta my face. My dad's the same way. We look angry when we're thinking about something deeply." I felt so embarrassed. I had gotten to know this really sweet guy and here I was, blowing it because I had a stupid looking face.

"...Are you sure?"

"Totally. I promise." I said, nervously twisting my hair in my fingers.

He looked like he was relaxing a little as we talked and packed the materials. I felt like I could have had a heart attack. Most people get fed up with me when I always look so upset. I was always so self conscious about my lack of social skills and ability to show the proper facial expressions. I was weird... but most of the time it didn't matter.

I hated that about myself. I couldn't help but be awkward. It's who I am! Most of my good friends during school had come to understand it and accept it, but once in a while I would crush on a guy I didn't know very well. Everything would go well at first, but then we'd be hanging out or something and I'd space out and start looking randomly ticked. It was a big turn-off for people I didn't know. Even teachers didn't like me that much because of it.

I didn't want this to happen again. Not here. I wanted a new start. I couldn't stand to have issues from my old life follow me here. I can't handle it...

"Hey...Hey! Don't cry!" Luke looked at me with a panicked expression.

I lifted my hand to my face. Sure enough, there were tears.

"It's not a big deal if you get upset ya know," he walked up to me, " Not everyone's perfect. It doesn't matter if you're mad, sad, or extremely happy!" He blushed as he looked down at the materials that were still on the ground. "You don't have to worry about anyone on this Island judging you, I promise."

I swallowed the lump in my throat. It wasn't commonplace for me to cry in front of people I hardly knew. Luke really was a great guy. A little hyper, but still genuinely good. I felt like I could open up and tell him everything...but there's no way I'd ever do that. I felt I had given enough of myself to him for a while.

My dad always said, and I quote, "Don't go around bitching to everyone. They don't wanna hear it." I didn't want to make him the person that I'd dump all of my issues on, so I decided right there that I'd do my best to be happy around him. Besides, being happy suited him better, and it was hardly fair of me to hold him down.

"Thanks Luke," I wiped the last tear from my eye and smiled, "Let's get this crap back to my house."

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It didn't take us long to pack the rest of the material, and we were back at the entrance to the Fugue Forest before I realized it.

As we stepped out of the cool woods I smelled something so thick and delicious that I couldn't help but sigh.

"Haha, I know right? Chase's cooking is amazing!" Luke pointed down at a little house with an orange roof.

Chase.

"That's Chase's house?" I sort of squeaked. I couldn't believe I had forgotten about Chase!

"Uh-huh. I'm surprised he's still home. Usually he's on his way to the inn around this time. Hmm..." Luke pondered this for a second, and then was off.

We couldn't run with all of our material, so we just walked. I still felt somewhat embarrassed for what had happened in the Forest, but was even worse was that I cared so much! I mean, didn't I have a huge crush on Chase? I didn't want to think about Luke like this, because just the mention of Chase's name made my heart skip a beat. I couldn't deny that I felt attracted to Luke, but I knew that I had chemistry with Chase too.

I'm sure that if I looked pissed earlier, I definitely looked upset now.

I did my best to compose myself until we got back to my house and dropped the material on the side. "I had fun today!" Luke exclaimed with a huge grin. I couldn't help but smile back. It was like the very air around him was warm with his happiness when he smiled.

"Me too. Thanks for the help. There's no way I could've done it without you." I nervously tucked my hair behind my ear. I was so fried after all that work and the realization of him and Chase.

"No problem! I'll see you tomorrow with Pops so we can fix up your house!" He did a little jump and took off for the mine district, and before I knew it he was gone.

I felt my legs begin to buckle underneath me, and I fell to the grass. I was so tired that there was no way I could go see Chase that night. I would probably pass out along the way.

I managed to make it into my house where I collapsed onto my bed. After a minute I realized that I was dripping with sweat, and desperately needed a shower.

As I felt the water and soap wash away all the dirt and sweat from my skin, thoughts of Chase and Luke filled my head. I couldn't see how there was any way to choose between them. Chase was the misunderstood type, and he totally got my personality, and Luke was the sort of person that I just loved to be around.

I knew girls like this while I was growing up. They would flirt with a multitude of guys until they decided who they really wanted to date, but I didn't want to be like that! I remember the look on those guys faces as they saw all the different guys there crush had been seeing, and it was so heart-breaking you could cry.

I felt such a heaviness on my chest as I thought about it, and I was even more upset about the fact that I had only just met them, and shouldn't be having any feelings this intense about anyone. I was still trying to start a ranch!

I realized something.

Was there really anything wrong with just talking to them? I mean, I wasn't really dating either of them, and it was so early that there's no way I could decided who I really wanted to date.

Plus, they lived in different parts of the island, so how could they ever find out that the other was talking to me?

I felt more at ease with the idea as I proceeded to shut off the water, get dressed, and ease my self into my bed. I could tell I was going to feel sore the next day, and was dreading the certain pain I would feel in the morning.

As I laid in my bed and drifted into sleep, my dreams were filled with Luke's smiles and Chase's laughter.

And they were not pleasant dreams.

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Hooray! I never thought that I would actually write another chapter for this story, but I'm pretty glad I did. I forgot how much I like these characters.

You should know that the character Moffy is based off me entirely, and the whole pissed off thing happens with me on a regular basis...It sucks when a cute guy thinks your mad all the time...grr, oh well :P

Thank you guys so much for keeping me writing. It's so important to me and I almost forgot about it. I feel like I've grown a lot as a writer since I last updated this story. You guys are awesome! Happy Reading!

~Moffy ^_^