** I was supposed to do homework this weekend and I ended up writing this chapter! :) **

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN HARVEST MOON!


Chapter 7

Gill sat alone the next day in first period due to Chase and Molly's absence. He couldn't help but think that they skipped school together and felt a strange feeling in his gut. He did his work quietly, ignoring the feeling. He felt lonely instead, even though he was usually annoyed by everyone else's babble. Angela and Luke noticed him by himself and offered him to sit with them. Luke wasn't as bad about keeping Angela for himself anymore. He didn't see anybody try anything during lunch the day before, so he figured that Chase and Gill wouldn't try anything ever.

The classroom was quiet as everyone worked on their book assignments. The only sounds to be heard were pencils rubbings on sheets of paper and breathing. Angela couldn't concentrate. She kept wondering if Molly was in pain or not. She didn't want to think about that, but she did.

Angela tapped Luke on the arm. "Luke?" she whispered, careful to not disturb the class.

"Huh? What's up?" he whispered back.

"Do you think you can come with me to visit my sister at the Clinic later today?" she asked.

Gill's head shot up from his work. Luke raised his eyebrows. "Yeah, but what happened?"

"She and Chase ate some of Maya's cooking."

"I guess that explains why they aren't here" Gill thought.

Meanwhile, at the Clinic, Chase and Molly had a chat after a sleepless night. Throughout the night, they woke up randomly to throw up and dry heave. The dry heaves were the worst and made the night very painful and exhausting. And this all happened just by eating some of Maya's food.

"Never again" they both thought.

They still laid on their hospital beds next to their personal trashcans as they talked with weak voices.

"I wonder what we're missing at school," Molly said.

"Hopefully, nothing," Chase said, looking up to the ceiling. "I hate make-up work."

Molly grinned. "I hate work in general." She topped her sentence off with a contagious yawn.

Chase yawned too, making him more tired than he already was. "Did you really have to yawn?" He yawned again, making his eyes water and want to shut.

"Mmmm." Molly felt her eyes getting heavy, and soon, she entered a dream.


Gill walked a short way home after a long day of school. He went straight to his room and studied a history book in pleasant solitude. Out of nowhere, his bedroom door flew open, slamming against the wall. His father, the mayor, appeared and walked his short body to Gill's side.

"Gill! How was your day, my child?" he asked with animated interest.

"Fine, Father."

"You know, Chase and Molly are at Choral Clinic. You remember Molly, one of the new farm girls, right? She seems like a nice girl! I hear she is single!" He winked.

Gill sighed. "What is with your obsessive search for a future wife for me? Marriage is just waste of time. How can a wife help me become mayor?"

"Because you need support and somebody to take of you in the future. Besides…I would like grandchildren!" he said. "Why don't you stop your studying and visit the Clinic?"

"I'll study."

Hamilton frowned at his son's stubbornness. He looked around the room until he thought of something else to convince him with. "If you don't do this, I will think you aren't being very friendly to our townspeople," he said. Gill's looked up at his father's devious grin. Hamilton continued, "Therefore, I don't think you becoming mayor of Harmonica Town will be such a great idea." Gill slapped his book shut and walked out of the house to the Clinic, cursing under his breath the whole way. Hamilton wiped a tear from his eye. "That's my boy!"

Gill was led to where Chase and Molly were by Irene. Both were asleep, looking serene and free of worry. He took a seat on a chair between their beds, waiting impatiently for one of them to wake up.

After ten minutes of sitting, he heard whimpers and murmurs from Molly. She breathed a bit faster from her mouth as if she was running. "Please…" she said in her sleep. "Come back…"

"Hmph, some dream," Gill said out loud to himself.

She rustled in her bed sheets with a distressed face. "No!" she yelled with a cracked vocal. "Take us back! Take us back! Take us back!"

Her cries took Gill by surprise and made him do what any person would do if they witnessed somebody having a nightmare – wake them up. "Molly, wake up!" He shook her by the shoulders and patted her cheeks until she woke up with a gasp. "Are you okay?" he asked, truly concerned.

Molly blinked her misty eyes several times and rubbed her head. "Yeah, I-I'm fine…"

Gill glanced at Chase and saw him still asleep, not showing signs of waking up any time soon. He sat back in his chair and turned it to face Molly's bed. "Must have been some nightmare," he said. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"No, I'm fine…really," she said, though was she still a little disoriented. She looked around, expecting there be someone else with him but found no one, only a crashed Chase. "So, I've been meaning to ask you something…"

"What?"

"When are you going to teach me how to play piano like you said the other day?"

"I don't know," he shrugged. "I guess the next time we're both free."

"And when will that be?"

"On Sundays when Town Hall is closed."

"This Sunday then." She smiled and reached over to shake his hand whether or not he approved. "You know, I didn't know you work at Town Hall."

"I'm the mayor's only son and soon-to-be mayor of Harmonica Town. What did you expect?"

"Well, I actually didn't expect you to be related to him in the first place," she laughed.

Gill smirked. "You mean we look different."

"Exactly! I mean, you have bright blond hair and you're tall, and your father has gray hair, and is…well, not tall. And no offense, but he creeps me out to no end."

Gill smiled, actually showing his white teeth. "He is my own father, and he creeps me out too." Molly stared at him, or his mouth to be specific; it was like witnessing a lunar eclipse. "What?"

"You have a nice smile," Molly said. "You should do that more often."

Gill looked down, trying to hide a red face. "Ah…thanks."

Molly giggled. "Are you blushing?"

"W-What? No!" Gill said defensively.

Molly found amusement in his embarrassment. "I think you are!"

"I think you are being ridiculous!" Gill retorted.

Molly continued to giggle. "I think -" She cut herself off suddenly and covered her mouth with one hand and gripped her stomach when she felt a reflex. Fright rushed to her expression, erasing the giggles. "Oh, no..." She urgently gestured to her trashcan.

"Are you going to vomit?" Gill asked with alarm. She frantically nodded, and he immediately picked up the wastebasket and handed it to her. She dry heaved while Gill watched, feeling helpless. Trying to help somehow, he sat next to her and rubbed her back while trying not to inhale the fumes from her puke. She stopped soon and wiped off a bead of sweat from her forehead. "Are you done?" Gill asked, still rubbing her back.

Her body trembled. "Y-Yeah, I think so… Thanks." She reached down to put the trashcan back down on the floor, but Gill sprung up to his feet and grabbed it.

"I'll get that…" He put it back and sat in his chair again. Molly was now lying down in her bed. "Maybe I should go so you can rest…" Gill proposed.

"No, please stay," she begged. "I like your company…"

He blushed lightly and then nodded. "Okay."

"You're blushing again."

"Y-Your illness is just giving you hallucinations!"

Angela was led to the back of the Clinic with Luke. She saw Chase asleep, Molly lying awake in bed, laughing, and Gill sitting at her bedside, blushing.

"Hey, Ang!" Molly said once noticing her.

"Hi, you guys," she said back.

"Is that Gill?" Luke asked in disbelief from behind Angela. Gill groaned when he recognized the voice. Luke walked over to him. "What are you doing here?"

"What do you think?" he grumbled. "I'm visiting."

Luke smirked. He was in the perfect mood and situation to mess with Gill. "Then, why are you blushing?"

"I told you," Molly giggled.

"Yeah, you look like a tomato," Luke snickered. "I guess you are what you eat, huh?"

Gill's face grew more crimson. "I'm going home now," he grunted. He walked to the exit, but stopped before opening the door. "Get well, Molly," he muttered.

"Okay, but make sure you visit again!" Molly called as Gill walked out.

"Yeah! You wouldn't want to disappoint you're girlfriend, would ya?" Luke called out too, hoping Gill could hear him through the walls.

"Girlfriend?" Molly said, trying out the word with a disgusted look.

Angela punched Luke's arm. "Ow," he complained. "Aw, c'mon! You know you were thinking the same thing!"

Angela tried to give him a stern look but couldn't when looking up at Luke's goofy grin. "She isn't his girlfriend," she said, but whipped her head around to Molly when she felt uncertain. "Are you and Gill boyfriend and girlfriend?"

"Of course not!" Molly said. "He is the most irritable person I've ever met!"

Luke and Angela chuckled. "You know, you can be moody at times too," Angela said.

Molly rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. Maybe I overreact…occasionally!"

"Really, now?" Angela sat in the chair Gill was in earlier and made a crooked smile. "Tell me, what did you do when Kasey announced that he was dating your math teacher two years ago?"

"I yelled at him because I hated her, and she was already failing me," she said shrugging her shoulders.

Angela leaned forward and crossed her arms. "And?"

Molly bit her lip. "I…threw a…chair at him…" Luke's jaw dropped and cowered behind Angela. "Well, I had to do something or I'd risk her becoming our sister in-law!" Molly said.

Angela raised an eyebrow. "So, you throw a chair at him?"

"At least I missed!" Molly yelled.

Luke turned around and found Chase still sleeping. "He sure is a heavy sleeper." He was now at Chase's bedside, poking him in the shoulder to try wake him. "Wake up, sicky," he whispered.

"Don't do that! He might need his rest," Angela said. "Right, Molly?"

"Eh, I haven't seen him awake since this morning. Go ahead, and see if he's even alive."

Angela sighed. Luke poked him harder and even slapped him until Chase opened his eyes. "Get up, you lazy bum!" Luke said.

Chase extended his arms to stretch and yawned before saying, "Luke, what are you doing here?"

Angela appeared by Luke's side. "We came to visit."

"Gill was here too, but you were passed out!" Molly complained.

Chase's eyebrows grew closer together. "Why would Gill visit?"

"I don't know. All he did was talk with me until they showed up." She gestured to Angela and Luke.

"Well, that was…nice of him," he hissed. What a sneaky rat! He got to her even when I was here the entire time!


Gill walked home with his head bowed down. He kept touching his face with his cold hands to cool down his hot face, but it didn't work. He was still profusely flushed. His father was waiting for him in the living room ever since Gill left. He instantly viewed the redness on Gill's cheeks.

He got excited and started spitting out a million questions that Gill was ready not to answer. "Oh, how did it go? Why are you blushing? Did you finally fall in love with a girl? When can I expect the wedding?"

"I'm not blushing, and there isn't going to be any wedding!" Gill roared.

The mayor ignored him. "Oh, I've been waiting for so long to see this! I better get a camera from Simon to take a picture of this! Don't you dare leave this house!" He bolted his small body out of the house in a flash.

Gill groaned and prayed. Harvest Goddess, why did you have to make him my father?


** I'm starting to get into a habit of updating every weekend. Yaaay for scheduled updates! :D

Thank you for reading and don't forget to review! **