Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon or any of the characters.
The next morning, Claire woke up to a knock at her door. "Fantastic," she told Kanta, grumbling. "Let me guess! Another stupid romantic festival in which we have to take dates, so I'll have to go with some random guy or with friends even though I don't want to even go!" Another knock. "I'm coming, hold on!"
Kanta yipped along with her as she changed into her overalls, brushed her hair, quickly ate the tiny breakfast she was always supplemented with. "Okay, sorry it took so long," she finally said, swinging the door open. "Is there going to be a fes- oh, it's not Hamilton. It's you," Claire said blankly at Gray, who frowned. "Sorry, sorry, I meant…Oh! It's you! Go ahead and come in if you'd like or if you're just stopping by you don't have to and I'll just stop talking now…"
The blacksmith merely shrugged and stepped in, closing the door behind him. "I brought your hammer," he called, pulling it out from behind him, holding the handle out to the girl before him.
"Oh," Claire smiled, taking it and turning it over in her hands. "It looks great, Gray. Perfect. Thank you, I appreciate it. I kind of…" she rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "Forgot about it. I kind of liked being able to skip mining."
The boy tugged on his hat and shrugged. Uma, Claire scornfully thought. All of that wasted time, and his hat just says horse... "Well, maybe you should skip it anyways. You did look like you were going to pass out yesterday."
"I did? I guess. I mean…" Claire shrugged. "I didn't feel particularly sick."
"Then why'd you spit your lemonade all over the floor?" Gray asked, his tone mocking.
The blonde was used to that by now. She just rolled her eyes at him and placed her hammer into her pack, where it belonged. "Because she surprised me, okay? She said something that surprised me. So I spit it out everywhere. I couldn't help it. I was just trying to innocently drink…"
"What she said…surprised you?" Gray asked thoughtfully. "Like…in a good way…or a bad way?"
Claire froze. Well, he'll never know, she shrugged to herself. "A good way, I guess. Good for her, good for me. Good all around. Stupid good. It shouldn't be a good way but it was and…this sounds completely bizarre, doesn't it? It sounds weird, right? I'll just stop."
"No," Gray stated slowly. "I guess it…makes sense. I've got to go. My grandpa would be furious if I didn't get back soon. See you later, Claire," his lips slowly curled into what could almost be considered a smile, and then he let himself out, slamming the door shut behind him.
"That boy," Claire rolled her eyes. "He'll never make sense. Stay, Kanta," she told her dog, who obediently fell to the side and closed his eyes to sleep, and hurried out to her ranch.
Mary was reading a book when Claire entered, which wasn't that big of a surprise. "Whoa, Mary, what are you doing?" Claire called out however, making her friend squeak with shock. "Reading? In the library? How can you sleep at night?"
Her friend frowned. "What are you talking about? Where else would I read, if not the library?" Claire waited to see if maybe the girl was just trying to be funny as well, but she merely kept on with her sour face, pushing her glasses high onto the bridge of her nose and still looking down at her farmer friend with them.
"It was just…oh, never mind. How's your day been?" Claire asked cheerfully. There was no reason to be snotty back. She had skipped mining, hadn't she? She had had a nice time with her animals, had run into Ann and had a fun time chatting, and now she was here with her best friend. No reason to be upset.
However, Mary merely frowned again. "It's been just another average day, Claire."
"What's wrong? You seem a little upset…" the farmer spoke as gently as she could, hesitating with every word. It was rare that Mary was upset and hiding her emotions from Claire. Usually it was the other way around. Then again, Mary didn't often notice…and Claire did…but that was beside the point.
The black haired girl snapped her book shut, making Claire jump. "Nothing is the matter, Claire. And the library is closed today."
"But…it's Sunday. It's always open on Sundays. It's only closed on Mondays!" Claire protested, staring at her friend in confusion. "Did you save your page? I've never seen you not save your page…"
Mary pushed her hair from her face and then folded her arms. "I was only perusing the book, not reading it." Claire hesitated, opened her mouth, and then closed it. Perhaps I shouldn't ask what perusing means right at this moment... "And I'm not feeling so well, Claire." She had avoided eye contact, but when she looked at her friend's hurt expression she sighed. "Gray was asking about you yesterday, you know."
Claire stiffened, trying not to make it noticeable by swinging her arms back and forth suddenly. "Really? Why? What did he want to know? Ooh, talking about me, that's a great excuse to get you two talking, you both know me!" the blonde exclaimed cheerfully, trying hard to find some way to remedy the situation.
"No, Claire. It is not a good excuse. He wanted to know why I didn't help you, and what I said to make you spit out your drink. I told him that I said nothing, only 'There's Gray,' or something of the sort."
"You what?" Claire shouted. "You told him that! Oh, that explains what he was going on about this morning…well this is just fan-freaking-tastic! Dammit! Dammit, dammit, dammit!" the farmer bellowed in the library, breaking several rules at once by being loud, being disruptive, and swearing.
Mary glared, folding her arms. "Oh, so now you're talking to him in the morning too? Well this is great, Claire. I wanted you to help me, and you just focused on yourself. Gray…Gray was right!" And that was how Claire knew a big insult was coming. "Y-you…you're self absorbed!"
The blonde gasped.
"That's right," Mary whimpered a little. "The library is closed! You…you…I'm afraid you need to leave now," she told the stunned girl before her, shooing her out.
When Claire was outside the door, it slammed behind her, and the little click that sounded told her that she had been locked out.
"What did I do?" she whispered, putting her face in her hands. "I messed everything up. Everything."
There are often times where you mess up, and there are times when you don't notice it, and there are times when you do, and there are times when you don't even mess up at all. That doesn't change the sense of realization you feel when someone tells it to you themselves. No matter the situation, if someone lets you know you messed up, you are always hit with that overwhelming wave of I really messed up this time.
Claire started walking towards her home, arms folded, eyes down, feeling colder than she usually did in winter. She tried not to think, but thoughts came anyways. What am I going to do? Was one popular one. A few that frustrated her were, Well, I've always got Popuri. And Now I could actually like Gray without feeling bad. They were pushed back with How can I even think things like that? And Mary is my best friend, and that can't just change over him.
"Claire?" he asked when she passed by Saibara's. "Are you okay?" She shrugged and kept on walking. "Claire, hold on," he insisted, and her steps hesitated. "I need to tell you something."
She turned to look at him, UMA cap down so low it was nearly written across his eyes. "No."
"No?" he retorted, already looking angry.
"No! I don't want to talk. I don't want to talk to you especially! I just lost my best friend, and I messed up, it's my fault! And what if she never wants to talk to me?" she demanded, glaring at the blacksmith, truly shocking him for perhaps the first time. "I screwed everything up, and I do not want to talk to you…ever!"
He looked truly stunned at this point. So stunned, in fact, that he couldn't even pull a witty insult, a scorching comeback. He merely lifted his hat just a bit and looked down into her blue eyes, met them with his own, and then said, "Fine."
And that was it.
Author's Note: Sorry this chapter is so short compared to the others. =/ I couldn't really bring myself to draw out Claire's sadness. But there's still several more chapters left so...don't panic. :) I'll try to get the next chapter out tonight or tomorrow morning so you guys don't have to wait too long. Thanks for reading, reviewing, everything! :D You guys are great. :)