Aha! I put it up! :D Oh, and to all who celebrate it, Happy 4th of July! So far, this is the longest chapter (though only by a couple hundred words). Anyway, I hope everyone likes this one. I kind of hit a bump towards the middle, but then it picks back up by the end. :) Also, there's some GrayxClaire in here. Cheers
Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon or any of it's characters, plots, etc. This fanfiction is merely for recreational purposes.
Spring, Day 29, Wednesday
"You know, things have been really weird between me and Gray lately," Claire confided to Ann over a breakfast of pancakes.
"Really? How so?" Ann's eyes brightened, hoping for something juicy.
"I don't know how to explain it," Claire started. "It feels like there's this weird tension between us. Not that that's any different than what it was like before, but this time it just feels more awkward. If that makes sense," Claire stopped before she had the chance to make even herself confused.
"Hmm. I guess I kind of understand what you're talking about," Ann said, sounding a bit unsure.
"Well, not only that, but it seems like he won't even make eye contact with me anymore," Claire added, her face taking on a melancholy appearance. "I went in to get one of my tools upgraded the other day and the only time he said anything to me was when I said hello and goodbye."
"Maybe his grandfather has been giving him a hard time," Ann suggested, hoping to cheer Claire up.
"Yeah, maybe," Claire gave a feeble smile. Why am I so upset about this? I mean, this is Gray we're talking about.
"So, where's Jack?" Ann asked, hoping to turn to a lighter subject.
"Last I checked he was taking Cookies out of the barn. I think he said something about getting some chickens, too," Claire answered, a sad note still present in her voice.
"Man, you have that guy working hard," Ann joked, standing up and pushing in the chair. "Well, I have to get to work, but you can stay and think for a while if you want." She walked over to Claire and patted her shoulder affectionately. "I wouldn't worry about Gray. It's just who he is." With that, Ann disappeared up the stairs, duster in hand, leaving Claire to sit and think for a while.
Did I do something wrong? Claire thought, staring at what was left of her pancakes. She sighed and rested her face in her hands. Maybe he's still mad about that kiss? Hmm. No, that couldn't be it. Could it?
"Something wrong?" a husky voice asked from behind Claire.
Startled, Claire turned around and almost did a double-take. There was Gray, standing behind the bar getting something to drink. The same Gray, who days before, wouldn't even make eye-contact with her, and now he was talking to her.
"Y-yeah. Sort of," Claire stammered after a pause, and turned back to face her pancakes only to see that Gray was taking the seat opposite her.
"What is it?" Gray inquired, taking a gulp of his orange juice. Well, this was strange indeed. Gray normally never showed interest in the well-being of anyone, and certainly didn't ask people why they were upset.
"Um, well, it has something to do with… you," by the time Claire had finished the sentence, her voice had diminished to a whisper. She stood up abruptly. "Imustbegoingnowbye," she muttered rapidly and turned to walk out of the inn. Claire was almost at the door when Gray finally said something.
"Is this about that kiss I asked for?" The brim of Gray's cap shadowed his face, so Claire couldn't really see his expression when she glanced over at him, her hand on the doorknob.
"Yeah," Claire reluctantly whispered, loud enough for Gray to hear, and walked out the door.
"Argh!" Claire let out an exasperated yell and slumped to the ground underneath one of the trees on her farm.
"Claire?" Jack jogged over to where Claire was sitting and looked down at her with a concerned expression. "Are you okay?"
"I can't get Bullet to fetch the Frisbee," she explained, irritated. "Every time I throw it, he just runs after it and stops when it hits the ground. And the Beach Festival is tomorrow, and I need to get him to catch the Frisbee, and if he doesn't, then I won't win, and-"
"Claire, Claire stop," Jack said gently, giving her shoulder a slight squeeze.
In her short rant, Claire hadn't realized she'd come close to tears. She took in a few shaky breaths and stood up.
"Don't worry about it. I'll get Bullet to catch that Frisbee by tomorrow, but you need some rest," Jack reassured her.
"Thanks, Jack," Claire gave Jack a brief hug before walking slowly to the house. Everything just seems to be catching up with me. Gray, the kiss, even Jack. She shook her head, trying to dispel thoughts that would just make her stress out again.
Summer, Day 1, Thursday
Beach Festival
Claire wiped her hands on a dish towel as a couple quick knocks were heard at the door. I wonder who it could be… it's only 6:30 in the morning. When she opened a door, she was met with a complete stranger. He wore a purple bandana over his head, and some brown hair was peeking out from under it.
"Uh, hi," Claire greeted, smiling at the unknown man.
"Hey," he said. "I'm Kai. I run the Snack Shack on the beach during the summer." Kai shook Claire's hand with a firm grasp. "You must be Claire."
"Yup," Claire confirmed. "I run this farm, if you don't already know."
"Hm," Kai leaned against the doorframe, probably attempting to look sexy. "If you don't mind me asking, what's a girl like you doing on a farm like this?" He did some sort of thing that Claire interpreted as a cross between a wink and an eyebrow-wiggle.
She almost rolled her eyes at him, but before she had the chance, Jack popped up behind her. "Who's at the door?" That was probably a stupid question to ask, considering he could've just asked Kai, who was standing right there, but whatever.
"This is Kai," Claire introduced. "He runs a Snack Shack at the beach."
"Oh, well nice to meet you," Jack said, sticking out his hand. "I'm Jack."
Kai, however, just looked shocked. "Uh, yeah, nice to meet you, too, Jack."
"Well, I'm gonna go make sure Cookies gets fed, and then we can practice with Bullet," Jack said to Claire and slipped between her and Kai, walking out towards the field.
"Oh, I, uh, sorry," Kai said, embarrassed.
"For what?" Claire questioned, tilting her head. "Attempting to hit on me?" she teased with a mocking smile on her face.
"I didn't know you had a boyfriend," Kai looked down at his shoes and quickly looked back up with a slight grin on his tan face, hoping to not upset Claire.
Claire just laughed. "Jack? Oh, he's not my boyfriend." Claire grinned at Kai, who now just looked thoroughly confused. "He's just helping me out on the farm."
"Oh," was Kai's witty response. "Anyway," he started, regaining his composure, "There's a Beach Festival starting around noon or so. You guys should come; there's going to be some free food, a Frisbee contest, and a lot of other stuff going on."
"We'll be there," Claire assured him. "I guess I'll see you there, Kai."
"Yup. Nice meeting you," he replied, and walked casually out of the farm.
"So," Claire started, walking over to Jack, who was taking Cookies out the barn. "Did you get Bullet to learn how to catch that Frisbee?"
"Uh-huh," he said, pushing Cookies from behind, though she wasn't moving anywhere. "If you go get the Frisbee, I'll show you."
"First, I think you're going to need this if you want Cookies to get out into the field," Claire said, holding a bell out to Jack. "Just go stand in the field and ring it. She should walk towards the sound of the bell." As soon as she handed the bell to Jack, Claire turned and started walking back towards the house to get the Frisbee.
"Whoa," Claire murmured in awe. Bullet had just caught the Frisbee for Jack at about twenty yards, and was now walking happily towards them with a red disc in his mouth.
"Told you I'd get him to catch that Frisbee," Jack said with a grin.
"In all honesty, I didn't actually think you'd get him to catch the thing. At least, not that far away, at any rate," Claire said with an apologetic smile.
"Oh come on now," Jack said, throwing an arm over her shoulders. "You should have more faith in me than that."
"Yeah, probably" Claire agreed. They were shooed off to the side as May and her dog, Hannah, stepped up to the line.
Claire took a seat underneath one of the many beach umbrellas scattered along the sand. She watched as May threw the Frisbee a short way, about a few yards. Certainly not as far as Jack had thrown it. "You know, I think you have an unfair advantage," Claire said, looking at Jack, who was still standing.
"I do? Why?" Jack looked at Claire, and then back at May, trying to figure it out.
"Well for one thing, May's a little girl. You on the other hand… Unless you have some big secret, I'm pretty sure you're not a little girl."
"Ha ha, very funny. I can assure you, I'm a guy."
"I would hope so," Claire smirked, watching Jack with an amused expression.
"Yeah, yeah," Jack rolled his eyes. "I'm going to get some food. Want some?"
"No, I'm fine. But thanks, though." Claire scanned through the crowd of people at the beach, looking for her red-headed friend. "Hmmm," she tapped her chin, wondering where Ann would be.
"Looking for someone?" a creepy voice asked from behind her.
"Ack!" Claire flinched and turned her head. Of course, she came face to face with Ann. "You know, you'd be a really good ninja."
"Really?" Ann's eyes brightened as she took a seat next to Claire. "I've always wanted to be one. Then I could clean at the speed of light!"
Claire rolled her eyes. "I said 'ninja', Ann, not 'superhero'."
"Well, then I could clean, uh," Ann paused, looking for a word. "Stealthily!"
Claire sighed. "Okay then."
"Oh, by the way, I think your farmer-boy has taken a liking to our librarian," Ann revealed, looking over towards where Jack was.
"What? No way," Claire doubted, her eyes widening in disbelief. She followed Ann's gaze to find Jack engaging Mary some overly-friendly chatting, also known as flirting. "Huh. Well that's new."
"I'll say." Ann looked around quickly, and suddenly jumped up. "Blacksmith at 2 o'clock. And he looks like he wants to talk to you. I'll be back." Ann bounded out of sight in a matter of seconds.
"Wait!" Claire cried, but Ann was already gone. "Crap. Oh man, oh man, this is going to be really awkward," she panicked, remembering the 'talk' with Gray she had had the previous day. "Uh, hi," Claire said nervously as Gray approached. She smoothed out her clothes in an anxious habit.
"Hi," Gray responded. He gestured to the empty space next to Claire. "Can I sit here?"
"No," said out of habit. "I mean, yes," she corrected after seeing the perplexed look on Gray's face. "But, why? Just curious."
"I think we should talk," Gray said, taking a seat on the towel next to Claire. "About our 'situation'. Whatever that is."
"Uh, I think I hear Ann calling me," Claire hinted, standing quickly. She turned to walk off when she was pulled back onto the towel.
"Claire," Gray said sounding slightly irritated. "Seriously. You can't just run away from stuff you don't want to face."
Claire huffed. "Well, can you at least let go of my wrist?" She looked pointedly at his hand, which was still wrapped firmly around her small wrist.
His wrist swiftly drew away, and Gray cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Yeah…"
"So what did you want to talk about?" Claire asked, hoping this conversation would be over soon.
"Actually, there's more than one thing. But first, what you said to me at the inn yesterday. Is it really that big of a problem, what I said to you? About the kiss?" Gray glanced over at Claire, who seemed really uneasy.
"Well, for one thing, I have no idea whether or not you seriously meant it. I can't tell if you're still 'mad' at me, even though you don't act like it. And I feel really awkward around you when I remember the whole incident," Claire admitted, staring off towards the ocean.
"Claire, I'm not mad at you," Gray chuckled. "It's almost been a whole season since I said that to you." He shook his head, smiling. "Moving on, do you know that Jack has been hitting on Mary?"
Claire smiled. "Yeah, I've heard that. Why?"
"Just making sure you know," Gray said.
Claire looked over at Gray. "Do you like her or something?"
"No. We're just friends, and I don't want her to get hurt," he said, looking off to the side.
Seeing as Gray's facial expression didn't waver, Claire wasn't sure whether or not he was really lying. "Even though you're probably lying... Mary's a strong girl. She can handle herself," she assured him.
"Yeah, I know."
"Was there anything else you wanted to talk about?" Claire questioned.
"Um, yeah. You know that there's a Firework's Festival later this season, right?" he asked, lowering the rim of his cap.
"I think Ann mentioned it at some point," Claire thought for a moment. "Yeah, what about it?"
"Uh, well, if you aren't going with anyone, do you think maybe… we could go together?" At this point, Claire could see that Gray's whole face was red, even as he tried unsuccessfully to shield it with his hat.
"You're asking me because Mary and Jack are probably going together." It wasn't a question, but a statement. Claire didn't sound mad or hurt, which surprised Gray. A lot.
"No. I'm asking you because I want us to go together."
"Are you sure about that?" Claire asked, doubtful.
Gray sighed in exasperation. "Yes, Claire."
Claire considered this for a moment before answering. "Yeah, I'll go with you."
"Okay. I guess I'll talk to you later," Gray stood up and started to walk away. "Oh yeah," he called over his shoulder, "whether or not I was serious about that kiss… I'll let you figure that out." Gray smirked at Claire before disappearing into the small crowd.
Claire's jaw dropped. "Dammit."