Friendship or Love?

A/N: It's the holiday season... to be mega busy! I am sorry it took me so long to update. With Thanksgiving and all... Anyways, the next chapter is here now, so no need to stress! I know I probably lost a lot of reviewers in between my long updates... This one was ten pages long, so don't blame me!

I would like to take this time to send out a special thank you to all of the reviewers (new and old) who have stuck by me this long. You guys and gals are the best! Hugs and cookies for you!

News for this week: Any offers for someone to beta read my new Harvest Moon fics? Anybody? Anyone? I'm being swamped with so much homework nowadays that I just can't find the time to go back and re-read my stories top to bottom and find every little mistake. So if anybody can and will beta read, either contact me via PM or put it in your review.

On with the story!

Claire's P.O.V

I knew it! I knew I should've never gotten on that dangerous death trap! But would anyone listen to me? Oh Nooo. I knew that thing would break! Why oh why did I have to be so foolish? Goodbye cruel world! …

Hey…

Why am I not falling anymore? Is this heaven? Did I go into a coma while falling and die? Did I hit the floor? Why do I hear voices? Are there voices in heaven? Cuz they sound an awful lot like Gray and Mary. Wait a second… Why are someone's arms around me? And...why am I asking all of these questions instead of opening my eyes and finding out? Mental mote to hit myself in the head at a later time. Sometimes I am such a blonde.

A small groan escaped my lips as bright sunlight blocks my view, my eyes trying to see through. Must be heaven… Or I could be entering heaven and all the people that are seeing me lying here are screaming, "Don't go towards the light!" I could feel my chest rising up and down and my breath exiting and entering my mouth so I must have been alive.

Again I tried to open my eyes, this time cautiously opening one first. If this is heaven, it looks an awful lot like Mary's library.

Wait… Mary's library was where I was last. Does-Does that mean I'm still living? I'm alive! I'm alive! I'd jump up and kiss the floor if I could, but right now my body was still in shock. Where's Mary anyways?

I slowly opened my other cerulean blue eye and blinked twice to get them adjusted to the light. Still feel arms around me. Who-?

Heat rushed to my cheeks in an instant as my eyes found my savior. Damn… Out of all the guys in the town it just had to be Gray? Mary's gonna kill me if she gets the wrong idea. She should put a sign outside her library. Warning: Vicious librarian if her man is stolen. Enter at your own risk.

Gray's blue hat was dipped downward ever so slightly to hide his face. Although I swear that his cheeks are red right now. You know… He does look kind of cute in his new outfit with the- WHAT AM I THINKING!? BAD CLAIRE! BAD, BAD, BAD!

"Um…" I started, rubbing the back of my head with my right hand as I try to think of some way to get myself out of this. I can't exactly scream, "Get away from me!" Mary would kill me if I was that rude to him. "Do you mind… Uh… setting me down?" I ask politely, my cheeks flushing bright red now.

Gray's face snapped up to be level with mine and now I could clearly see the hints of red along his somewhat tan cheeks. "Oh! Uh… um… Sure," he stuttered slowly letting his hands release me as I got my balance. "S-Sorry a-about that…" he admits, standing up with me and adjusting his hat again so I can't see his face. Damn he's cute.

"Uh… yeah. But, uh, thanks for saving me and all," I managed to say, surprised at my ability to be somewhat at ease with him. Maybe it was the fact that he seemed… I don't know… Different now. Like before he would've ignored me or just give me a 'humph'. I believed that it was the fact that he was actually acknowledging me.

"Claire! Oh, Claire! Thank the goddess you're safe!" Mary gasped, scurrying down the stairs and rushing to me. Her black shoes clicked along the path and I could see her face was whiter than before as she darted past Gray. "I am so sorry! Thank you Gray. Can you forgive me? I am such a klutz with the book and the you almost dieing! If I wouldn't have made you get up there-."

"Mary!" I screamed, cutting my babbling friend off. I don't know how much more of that I could've taken. "Chill and take slow, deep breaths. I'm alive and in one piece; nothing bad happened, 'kay?"

"I still feel bad…" Mary confessed, twirling a stray lock of her black hair around her slim hand. Pivoting on her heels, the librarian looked gratefully towards Gray. "Thank you again for saving her. I-I would probably be feeling a whole lot worse if you didn't."

My God, she's like my mother. Only shorter, with glasses and black hair.

"Uh… You're welcome," Gray mumbled, his eyes traveled past Mary and somewhat locked gazes with me.

My cheeks were still probably flaming red. Even so, a small humph escaped my lips as I crossed my arms over my chest and diverted my gaze to one of the windows. If he wanted to be friends now, I was gonna make him work a while lot harder.

Mary ignored my little antic and continued smiling at Gray as he returned his gaze to her. Gag me now. Please spare me before they get all lovey-dovey.

"Um… Mary?" I questioned, letting my closed off posture relax as I tapped her on her shoulder to get her attention.

Twirling around to face me, Mary let her grin widen. "Yes?"

"I've gotta be getting back to my farm right now, so I'll just leave you two kids alone."

It was quite amusing to see both of their faces turn bright red as I finished my sentence. I couldn't resist adding that last bit though.

"C-CLAIRE!!" Mary fumed, lightly smacking me on my arm. It took all my willpower not to burst out laughing. See? Vicious librarian… "You've been hanging around Ann way too much!"

Wrapping my red jacket around me tighter, I whirled around on my heels and strutted to the door, leaving the still blushing couple. I threw a small smile over my shoulder to Mary as I opened the door, allowing the warm noon sunshine wash into the room. "Good luck…"

As I shut the door behind my, the sound of Mary's voice, screaming, "CLAIRE!!" could be heard. A smirk formed on my lips, my hands stuffed into my pockets as I started down the brick walkway. Now that I was away from any distractions, my thoughts began to wonder back to my feelings when Gray had caught me.

Sure he wasn't Prince Charming (knowing my luck I'd never find one of those) but he was…sweet and cute. OH!! There I go again! Thinking Gray's cute, WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME?! I'm happy being single…aren't I?

No! Even if you were looking for a guy, Claire, Gray's off limits. Mary has a mega crush on him and she would be heartbroken if I swooped in, stole Gray (who I haven't really liked until recently), and just left her hanging there. More importantly, Gray probably doesn't see me as more than some ditzy farmer who moved in.

A sigh of aggravation escaped my lips, halting in my tracks next to a large blooming cherry tree. Leaning against its trunk, my sapphire blue eyes gazed up at the clear sky above me.

Why was it always me who ended up heartbroken or alone? Even in the city, I was always the girl-next-door. Seen as one of the guys but never even considered girlfriend material. Maybe it was because I wasn't exactly beautiful. Yes, I had gorgeous hair and yes my eyes were perfect but the rest of me? Boring-ville.

And now here.

Karen was a heck of lot prettier than me. Elli had her sweet and caring nature that just seemed to draw guys in. Mary had her lady-likeness and her knowledge that beats anyone in this village. Popuri was so innocent and pure, with a cute, bubbly personality to match. Ann had her tomboyish nature and simply stunning strange abilities that would amaze anyone.

But me?

I'm just the city gal who moved into a farm. Sure I'm hard working, I'm not ugly and I can be comical, but what guy would want that?

I think for the first time… I'm questioning being alone forever. Maybe… Maybe I've always wanted someone by my side, but kept that part of me hidden. I was no romantic so…

I furiously shook my head from my thoughts, my thin blonde locks flying into my face. I needed to stop thinking that way. Depression makes you no more attractive. Scuffing the ground with the heel of my shoe, I pushed myself off of the tree and started down the walkway again. Maybe I could head to the inn and have lunch with Ann; she could help straighten my out.

One thought seemingly lingered in the back of my mind and just wouldn't go away no matter how hard I tried to push it away.

Who was I going to the Goddess Festival with?

With Ann…

"I'm coming Dad!! Sheesh! I take two seconds off and suddenly the place is packed!" Ann fumed, tossing her orange braided hair over one shoulder as she set Claire's newly designed dress on her bed in the back of the inn.

The green silk had now taken on the form of a dress thanks to the highly skilled Elli. A large scoop made the neckline while the ends of the scoop looped around to wrap around the wearer's shoulders. Elli had tightened the middle in to emphasize the point of a skinny waist, several pieces of ivory cloth to serve as belt loops. From there, the dress fanned out until it reached the wearer's knees, most of the cloth bunched together in a full but thin flow.

Ann had her own plans of spicing things up. With the new violet and ivory thread and cloth she had just bought, the tomboy was going to make a silky purple belt for the loops and add little delicate details into the belt with the ivory thread. For the bottom, the female planned to sew little violet flower designs into the silk. Completing the dress would be a bunch of purple roses laced around the neckline, making it go all the way around the wearer's shoulders.

"Too bad I can't work on it now," Ann sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Stupid inn job! Aren't there child labor laws or something in Mineral town?"

Still ranting as she walked away, Ann opened the door to the main room just a crack before peeking out. Better make sure no one's ready to ambush me with more work. The Mayor so needs to consider child labor laws. Crowds of people swarmed together, making it impossible to identify anyone expect for the bustling red-haired man behind the counter. The sound of glasses clinking together and seats scrapping against the wood floor filled the room.

Ann managed to slip into the room and sneak up behind her Dad seemingly unnoticed. She causally glanced over his shoulder to watch as he worked. His rough hands worked the kitchen knife through a large piece of lettuce for a salad.

"Having trouble Dad?" Ann questioned, making her dad jump. Her stray orange locks tumbled into her clear blue eyes, making her appear completely innocent.

Doug's head snapped up from his work and scowled at his daughter. "Gonna give me a heart attack one of these days, Ann."

The tomboy shrugged her shoulders and smirked. "That's what makes it all the more fun."

Doug shook his head slowly and gave the plate of food to Rick, who gave him a thankful grin. Coins clinked as they exchanged hands and Doug spoke. "Since you're not doing anything besides torturing me, could you go over to Duke's place and ask him for another box of cherry red wine? Just tell him to put it on my tab."

"First, torturing is a much too harsh word. Second, dang, we're out all ready? Somebody must be drinking a lot… " Ann observed, giving her father an accusing glare.

Doug frowned at his daughter as he handed Basil his ordered tea and took the coins from the customer's hand. "Karen and Duke had another drinking contest the other day."

"Again? When is Duke gonna realize that Karen can out-drink him at any time," Ann reasoned, waving her hands for dramatic effect.

"The same day Jeff realizes that Duke's never going to pay that tab he keeps adding to."

Ann snorted and let her gaze travel around the room. "When pigs fly."

Doug poured another glass of water for an awaiting customer and glanced at his daughter. "Just hurry and get the wine before Karen shows up tonight and decides to have the heavy stuff instead."

A low whistle escaped Ann's lips as she started towards the door. "I ain't being there then."

"You and me both," Doug yelled across the room, his words almost drowned out amongst the chatter. His gaze followed his now fully-grown daughter, pride filling every little corner of his orange eyes. "You're just like you're mother, Ann."

Ann's P.O.V

Why do I have to go out and get wine? Can't Dad send Cliff or something? I'm supposed to be working on my best friend's dress, darn it! Does the world like torturing me? Do the people up there sit on those puffy white clouds and laugh cheerfully down at me, just thinking up news ways to tick me off? Cuz if they do, I need to have a serious talk with these people.

I let out a sigh as my hands push on the old wooden inn door, swinging open easily with its rusty hinges. Note to self: tell Dad to fix those annoying squeaky hinges. Bright sunlight poured into the room as I stepped out and closed the door firmly behind me. The smells of different plants wafted to my nose, making me sneeze in surprise.

Dang allergies…

Rubbing my nose and huffing at the flowers, I continued on my path to old Dukey's place. The old brick walkway felt like an old friend under my feet since I've fetched wine for my dad ever since I was ten. My brown heels scuff the edges of the bricks, lost in my thoughts.

The Goddess Festival was only a couple days away and I still hadn't gotten my stinking dress! What does a gal have to do around here to sweet talk her dad into buying her an actual dress? I can't where the same one I wore last year! That would be… like a total idiotic movement on the road of development! Does he not know the emotional scarring I could go through if I don't get a new dress? I could be hurt for life! Doesn't anyone care? Why is the world so cruel!!

Ahem… No one heard that, right? Of course not! I said it in my thoughts, didn't I? Ah well, nobody's around anyways and I guess I'm kind of blowing this thing out of proportion.

Besides, the dress isn't that important…

HAVING A DATE IS WHAT'S IMPORTANT AND I DON'T HAVE ONE!! Showing to a dance without a date is a huge scar on your social life forever. And I do not want that!

Hmm… I wonder if it's illegal to hogtie some random cute guy walking down the streets and force him to be my date. If so-

"Ann!!" shouted a voice, bringing me from my thoughts. Wheeling about on my heels, I spot a certain blonde farmer sprinting down the brick paved path towards me, her hand waving like crazy.

Claire came to a halt in front of me and leaned down to rest on her knees, her curtain on blonde hair falling gracefully into her face. "Ann-huff-been-huff-looking-huff huff-everywhere for ya…" she gasped, short of breath as she returned to her standing position and beamed at me.

"CLAIRE!!" I suddenly screamed, freaking her out to no end as my eyes traveled to her attire. "OH MY GOSH, YOU'RE OUT OF YOUR OVERALLS!!" I waved my hands in the air to emphasize my point and to let off some of my steam.

The female's eyes had shrunk into little tiny dots from my unexpected outburst. I should really start taking some temper control classes or something like that. Shaking her blonde locks and rapidly blinking, Claire put on a genuine smile. "Yep! So what do ya think?" my friend asked, twirling around with her arms outstretched so I could get the full view.

What do I think?

Why does Claire always get new clothes!? Isn't there anyone up there watching out for little ol' me? Because whoever it is, is seriously doing a really, really, really bad job. Nonetheless, I can put aside my jealous feelings to compliment a friend on her excellent new choice.

"They look good!" I commented, dashing about Claire as I looked her up and down. "Not as good as your Goddess dress will, but still excellent!"

"My Goddess dress?" Claire questioned, a confused look on her features.

I mentally smacked myself. "Oh, I just got your new dress for the festival today and let me tell you, you will be looking beautiful on the night of the festival! Elli's done a magnificent job and now all I have to do to make it look magnificenter is to add my personal touches!"

"Magnificenter?"

"It's one of my words, okay? Don't make fun of my words!" I snapped, my orange braid bouncing up and down as I did. I really should write and publish a book. Ann's Words: Amazing Words That Will Make You Sound Smarticle! (Title work in progress.)

"So what are you doing away from your farm?" I asked, folding my arms behind my head as a pillow and continuing my walk to the wine shop.

I swear I saw a small blush form on Claire's cheeks just then, but it was gone in like a nano-second. Wonder if she's finally wrangled up a guy?

"I was helping Mary at the library; she needed to tidy up a bit. She says I'm hanging around you too much," Claire answered with a laugh, her blue gaze sweeping over the surrounding flora.

"Consider that a compliment!" I replied, pointing one finger to the sky as we walked around the corner to Duke's place. "And your new clothes?"

"A gift from my sister." She self-consciously tugged her red and white tank top down.

"Sister? Huh… You think you know a person and then you find out that they've been hiding the fact that they have a sister. What is this era coming to?" I mused, knowing that every word that came out of my mouth was dripping with accusing guilt.

The blonde's face flushed red. "It's not like that at all! It's just no one ever asked and I don't really get along with her so…" Claire let her voice fall off on the end, her eyes now downcast as she wrapped her red-jacketed arms around her thin frame.

"Ahh…" I replied, tapping my chin thoughtfully. "I see… So a sister you never really got along with sent you these?" I pointed one of my nimble fingers at her denim jacket and gave her arm a playful poke.

"She married a rich man, okay? I'm still leaning on the fact that Mom probably forces her and that these are just hand-me downs."

I let out a snort. "I'm glad I'm an only child. …I must thank Dad and Mom for their thoughtfulness for my feelings."

"Maybe they were just smart and didn't want two Ann's running about the place."

"Mayb- HEY!!" Man do I feel stupid, not picking up on the sarcasm and all. Other note to self: Pay more attention when friends are talking to you. I wheeled around and gave her a fake mad glare to get my point across.

"I'm just kidding!" the blonde farmer replied, laughing in between her words. "So what are you doing out here?"

I stopped in front of Aja winery and gazed at the old slightly rundown house, fully aware of Claire staring at me, probably confused. I usually tried to avoid coming here for two reasons. One, I always seemed to come when Duke and Manna were arguing which left me either feeling very uncomfortable or dragged in the middle of it; Two, Cliff.

Okay! I liked him, you got me there but he doesn't need to know that. Can you imagine how awkward that would be for me, Cliff, Dad, even Gray if I told him and he didn't return those feelings?! We would be like avoiding each other for the rest of our lives and…

I'm worried that I might scare him away.

Cliff is the type that can move away or run away easily from his problems. Me, well, I'm the type that has a conscious and is haunted by it every waking moment! If he ran away because of me, I would never forgive myself. And I don't know if I could live with that.

"Uh… Ann?"

Claire's soft voice snapped me out of my thoughts again. "He, he… Sorry about that. Kind of spaced out for a second there," I explained, rubbing the back of my head and turning my gaze on her. I'm sure my cheeks were slightly red out of embarrassment.

The female standing next to me smiled. "S' alright. So, why were you away from the inn again?"

I blinked at my own stupidity. "Oh! Dad wanted me to get another load of cherry wine for the Inn's bar."

"You mean you're out already?"

"Karen and Duke had this drinking contest the other night," I replied, shrugging my shoulders and starting up towards the main house.

"Oh," was all Claire said, slowly following me up to the door. Her blue gaze wandered around the winery grounds as if looking for something. "Hey, don't you think it's strange that neither Cliff nor Duke are out here picking grapes? I mean, at least Cliff does it around noon spring through fall, right?"

Again, I shrugged my shoulders and firmly knocked on the door. "Maybe they're down in the cellar or something."

"Yeah… maybe you're right. Still…" Claire's voice drifted off at the end as I pounded louder on the door. Usually the sound of Manna's scrambling to answer the door the second there's company could be heard even through the wood. Wonder why I don't hear anything.

"Manna!!" I shouted, hammering my fist on the door again. "Duke!! …Anybody?"

"Duke and Manna left for a wine contest in Forget-Me-Not Valley this morning," came the reply of a gruff and familiar male voice from the side.

Claire and I turned our blue gaze on none other than Cliff. He was standing right outside the wine cellar with a pair of keys in his hand and a basket set along the shed's wall. His extremely hot muscles on his arms were visible because of his sleeves brown tank top with a white fur collar. (Who wears fur in the middle of spring?) His handsome brown eyes glanced from Claire to me then back to Claire again. It took me a moment to stop gazing at him and to actually comprehend what he said.

Making a loud huff of annoyance, I angrily crossed my arms over my chest and leaned back against door in frustration. Hopefully anyone who saw the blush on my face would think it was from anger. "Just great… Out of all the days the contest could've been, it just had to be this day."

Claire turned her sapphire gaze on me. "Uh… Don't worry, Ann. I'm sure they left a crate of cherry red wine around here somewhere if Duke just drank the last of it before he left."

"Cherry red wine?" Cliff questioned, stuffing his free hand in his brown side pocket of his tan pants. "This wouldn't happen to be for the inn, would it?"

"YESS!!" I cried, running past a startled Claire and towards Cliff with my hands clasped together. "Do you have it?"

The brown-haired male smiled that oh so gorgeous white smile of his. "Yeah. Duke left a whole crate of it in the wine cellar. Said it was for the Inn. Do you want it now or do you want me to drop it off after my shift ends?"

"We'll pick it up," Claire replied, echoing my thoughts. I heard her trail up behind me and beam at Cliff. I saw Cliff grin back.

…That better have been a friend-to-friend smile.

A couple minutes later…

"Yep! It's all here! All the jugs we need to keep Karen off the heavy stuff until Duke and Manna return," I concluded, standing up from my squat down position by the crate filled with cherry red wine. The darkness in the lower level of the cellar made the box hard to distinguish between the other three but Cliff and I managed while Claire held a small lantern over the crates.

Small cobwebs lined the corners of the stone walled lower level of the wine cellar. Four crates coated in a thin layer of dust were set upon the wooden ground. No electricity ran through the whole shed, so a lantern had been sitting on the upper most step. Several other racks of large barrels containing wine lined the walls.

Turning around to face my companions, I grinned. "So how much does Dad owe you?" I asked to Cliff.

The male scratched his head for a moment, lost in his calculations. "Let's see… taking into account that this is the last of the cherry red wine and the plant that's used to make it going extinct… Around 4000G."

"4000G?!" I shrieked. Usually this much only cost a good heaping 2500G which we could barely afford as it is, but 4000G? Dad may be considering auctioning me off to the highest bidder in Mineral Town now…

Cliff's small grin faded and his eyes became downcast. "I guess I could negotiate with Duke about it when he gets back-."

"I'll pay for it," Claire suddenly said, like it was the simplest thing in the world. We both turned around in shock, her figure illuminated by the light of the lantern she was holding in one hand.

"Claire…" I started, a depressing tone in my voice. I knew the farmer made a lot of money (more than the normal person in Mineral Town that's for sure) but I couldn't let her just waste away 4000G just for some wine. "I couldn't let you-."

"It's fine," the blonde reassured me, untying a small brown bag from the side of her jeans. The sound of clanking coins filled the air. "It's the least I could do for the dress you're helping make and the free lunch you and your Dad gave me when I first arrived. Hold this, please." The lantern exchanged hands to Cliff, who was looking from me to Claire then back to me again, a questioning look on his face.

By the light of the lantern, Claire untied the gold thread around the small brown bag's opening and dumped its content into her hand. Twelve huge, twinkling gold coins were present on her white-gloved hand. Counting out four, the female dumped the other eight into the bag and retied the gold thread. Scooping her hand around the coins to keep them safe, Claire tied the bag back onto her denim belt thread.

"This should cover it," she boasted, dropping the four coins into Cliff's outstretched hand.

The brown male grinned again. "Never knew a gal who carried around more than 4000G."

"Well," Claire countered, her hands placed on her hips, "Now you do."

Cliff let out a small chuckle and recounted the coins before stuffing them in his pant's pocket. He smiled a gentle smile that Claire returned.

They're just friends, Ann… Just friends.

"So I'll carry this up," I interrupted, running my hands down the sides of the box until I found the bottom. With a heave, I lifted it off the ground and recomposed my balance so I didn't stumble and break the wine bottles. Man, I would never live down the comments that Karen and Claire cooked up if I did break 4000G worth of bottles.

"Here," Cliff began, returning the lantern to Claire and putting his hands on the free space at the bottom of the box. His own finger ever so slightly brushed against mine, sending shivers up my spine. "I'll carry it."

"Ya sure?" I questioned, arching one of my eyebrows even thought I was furiously blushing in the darkness at his closeness.

"I'm sure," Cliff chuckled, my grip slowly loosening on the box so as to make sure he could hold it. As my fingers drifted away from the bottom, my heart gave a little sigh of disappointment. I kind of liked being that close to him…

WHAT AM I SAYING!? Focus Ann! Focus!

"EEEKK!!" Claire suddenly screamed, the sound of a mouse's squeak and her stumbling footsteps echoing following it.

I glanced over to where Claire was. By the glow of the bobbing lantern, Claire's backing away figure was visible as was that of a tiny mouse shaped shadow on her foot as she furiously shook it.

"GET IT OFF!! GET IT OFF!!" she shrieked, continuing to kick her right foot at nothing but air as a little white mouse with red eyes clung on for dear life. After one final kick, the blonde-haired female's leg collided with the cobblestone wall, causing the mouse to go flying across the room. As the tiny creature hit the floor, it recovered just as fast and scampered into a tiny hole in the wall.

Claire's body was visibly shaking and it took all my willpower not to burst out laughing at her wide as a saucer plate eyes. You'd think she just saw the dead instead of a mouse.

Cliff, on the other hand, was not as self-controlling as me. His low chuckles escaped his lips even though he was biting the side of mouth. Claire's sharp ears picked up on the silent chuckles as she threw a death glare towards Cliff and a look that said don't-you-dare-or-else at me.

"What? Me? Laugh at you? Oh pish-posh darling," I sarcastically commented, waving my hands about and making my eyes appear extremely innocent. I had a lot of practice on Dad.

"This. Never. Happened," threatened the farmer, glaring from Cliff to me then back again as she fixed the lantern's lighting to shine upon both of our faces. "Got it?"

"I saw nothing," Cliff stated, letting a small chuckle slid by.

"Hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil!" I mocked, covering my eyes and peeking out at a trying hard not to grin Claire. "Now come one, you two!" I ordered, sprinting towards the steps. "We've got wine to deliver!" Striking a dramatic pose, I bounded up the stair and into the somewhat lit upper wine cellar.

"Do you know how utterly bad that sounded?" the blonde farmer commented, letting Cliff go up the stairs first before following him with the lantern still lit. As she reached the top step, Claire opened the small clear glass surrounding the flame and blew the small fire out. She set it down on the right corner on the top wooden step before entering the top level and standing back behind Cliff, who was a few paces behind me.

"Hm," I replied, shrugging my shoulders carelessly as I sauntered up to the door. I don't know about anyone else, but it was starting to stink in here and I was ready to get out. Now all I had to do was turn the doorknob this way like so and…

A small snap like the breaking up metal was heard, only loud enough for me to actually hear it. I was afraid to glance down, but I did anyways.

Uh oh...

"Uh oh," I muttered, my eyes going wide as I stared at what was now in my hand.

"Uh oh?" Claire and Cliff questioned, both standing a ways back so they couldn't see what had broken.

My face flushed red out of embarrassment. "Uh… Ha, ha… he, he?" I began, whirling around on my feet and hiding what I had broke behind my back.

Maybe there's another way out or Cliff knows how to fix it…

"Ha, ha!" I faked laughed, receiving strange looks from my two companions. "Okay, before I say anything-Ha, ha!- we are gonna look back on this day and laugh ourselves to our graves. Ha, ha!"

"Ann, what did you break?" Claire asked, reading my mind as she rested her forehead in one of her slim hands.

How does she do that?

Cliff glanced from Claire to me. "Ann?"

"Now remember," I stated, laughing in between every two words to buy myself some time before Claire killed me. "We're gonna laugh about this a few years from now!" Rocking back and worth of my heels and I pulled what was behind back and held the slim object out in front of them.

Both of their eyes went wide with shock, anger, and fright I guess.

I twirled the broken doorknob in my hand. "We're kind of stuck in here."

A/N: Was gonna add more, but my fingers are too tired. Anyways, I hoped you all liked it.

Speical news: I've thought up a rally of Harvest Moon oneshots that I may be able to do, tell me what you guys and gals think!

Kaitie: Age Is Just a Number: Still deciding on the pairing. JackXKaite or KaiteXCarl.

Tori and Melody: Another Day, Another Spell Gone Wrong. Done as a request for Laugh, Love, Live. Tori and Melody's discussion of love while trying to fix Melody's mix-up.

KaiXClaire: Cornstalks: Going to be done as a request. After escaping from Rick yet again, Kai just happens to stumble across the new farmer's farm (Try saying that six times fast) for the first time...

Island of Happines oneshot. I don't actually know what to do for this one. I've seen the manga chapters of this game on a website and I have to say that I'm loving it! I'm thinking that I'll do a MarkXChelsea oneshot on one of their heart events. I may also write a lone fic for Island of Happiness once Friendship or Love? is done. Again, give me your thoughts on what I should do.

I don't really know what to do for half of em. You get this idea and then... Plop! Nothing.) Well, I'll be looking forward to your feedback. See ya next time!