Chapter 14:

The next couple of weeks passed relatively quietly. There were no curses, no awkward stuck-in-a-storm-naked moments, and I was doing pretty well acting normal around Gray.

Only now he was the one acting strange. It felt like he was always on edge around me lately. He was tense, and he would space out a lot when we would hang out. My first thought was that he knew what I did in the hot spring building and, needless to say, I was completely flustered and panicked. However, I soon (discreetly) found out that was not the case, much to my relief.

Other than that, time flew by pretty quickly, and it was already the 23rd of Summer. I heaved my basket full of crops across my field and set it down next to the shipping bin. I had a good amount of corn, tomatoes, and onions, not to mention a few pineapples as well. I packaged the bounty in the shipping box, ready to be hauled off by Zack later.

Wiping the sweat off my forehead with the back of my hand, I decided that I should go and visit Ann. It had been a while since I last went to her place to hang out with her. Not to mention this way I wouldn't have to cook dinner for myself.

As I headed down the road towards the inn, I couldn't help but wonder how she would react if I told her what had happened in that shack during the storm. No doubt she would freak out, and ask for all the little details of why I did it, how I felt while I did it, what he was doing, how he responded when it happened, and such things. Ann has always been good at getting me to talk, even when I don't necessarily want to tell anyone. She's a really good, well behaved girl, but sometimes I feel like she's more daring than I am, in some senses. Like, she's got this curiosity about the world that she's too… I don't know… nervous or scared to explore? I think she likes to ask me about such topics because she's vicariously living through me (despite my lack of worldly experience. Well, I suppose I still have more than her though…) I chuckled at the thought.

Anyways, I'd never be able to tell her about the storm. In fact, I think I'll take that embarrassing story to my grave.

"Claire!" someone called out my name suddenly. Turning to see who it was, I saw Cliff standing by the fence of the winery. I smiled and waved at him, trotting over to where he was.

"Hey, Cliff. How's work going?" I asked, figuring he must still be working since he was in the grape vine field.

"It's going well. Things are starting to get a little more hectic since Fall will be here soon," he explained. He then let out a small chuckle. "Man, I can't believe it will already have been a year since you got me this job." He grinned.

I grinned back, remembering why I had decided to ask him to help out Manna and Duke that day, despite not knowing him all that well at the time. I remember he had told me when I had gone to visit the church that he was quickly running out of money, and would have to leave town. He looked sad. And yes, that did make me feel sympathetic towards him, but my main reason for wanting him to stay was because of Ann. She had never told me directly, but it was pretty obvious she liked him. It was cute, the way she would look at him when she thought nobody was looking. Even cuter when Cliff would later look at her when he thought nobody was looking. Little did either of them know, I was watching. At any rate, I just couldn't let him leave, not when neither of them had made any moves yet. Let's just say I enjoy watching a good romance unfold before me.

"That's great. Oh. I'm heading to the inn now for some dinner and to chat with Ann for a bit. Wanna come with?" I asked, thinking it would be a good opportunity for them to see one another. They had become quite close lately, and I was wondering when someone was gonna make a move.

Cliff didn't answer. Looking at him, I noticed his face had turned beet red and he was looking at the ground.

"A-about that…" he started, shifting his feet nervously, as if the dirt had become incredibly interesting all of a sudden. "I…I've been thinking lately that…um… I…"

He turned his gaze away from the dirt and glanced at me for a moment. A shot him a look saying "just spit it out already." I understand he's a naturally timid guy and gets nervous easily, but come on. I'm not exactly known for my patience.

He quickly looked back at the ground when he saw my face. "I…" he started, just above a whisper. Then, almost shouting, he blurted out, "I want to tell Ann how I feel about her!"

He looked at me nervously, as if expecting me to be angry for some reason, but quickly looked relieved when he noticed I was smiling.

"Oh my gosh, Cliff that's great!" I shouted excitedly, taking his hands and shaking them vigorously in congratulations. "Do you know what you're gonna say? Oh! How are you gonna say it? Also, when are you gonna tell her? Oh this is so exciting!" I quickly got carried away asking a bunch of questions.

"I really don't know" Cliff squeaked out. I looked at him. Poor guy, he looked frazzled. Er… maybe I shouldn't have asked all those questions. Seems he hadn't even thought about most of those before now…

"I… I really want to tell her soon, but I want it to be special! I don't want to just go in there after work and just say it like it's nothing!" His head dropped into his hands. I noticed his ears were a deep red color.

I ruffled his hair with my hand and he looked up at me questioningly. "Dummy," I said, "It's obvious, isn't it?" He continued to look confused. I let out a sigh of mock exasperation. "Silly! Tomorrow is the Fireworks Festival! If you ask me, that's a great time to confess!" I wrapped my arms around myself in a fake hug. "Just picture it! The cool ocean breeze, the big, beautiful sky, and, just as the fireworks are about to go off—" I then clasped my hands in front of me excitedly, in my own little fantasy world, "-you take her hands in yours, look her in the eyes, and tell her feelings!"

Cliff let out a chuckle, snapping me out of my little fireworks fantasy. "That's... that's actually a really good idea," he told me, after thinking about it for a second.

I smiled. "That's what I'm here for! I am a goldmine of good ideas." I grinned proudly, but Cliff just started laughing more. Cheeky bastard. I smiled despite myself.

"Really though," he said with a serious tone after he stopped laughing, "Thanks."

"Hey, no problem," I replied embarrassingly, scratching the back of my head. "Well, see you later!" I turned to go, but turning back I waved to him and shouted "Good luck!"

He smiled and waved back at me.

I hurried up the rest of the way to the inn. I'm sure I was grinning like an idiot, and no doubt Ann would want to know why. But you know what? This is one thing that Ann definitely won't be able to get me to tell her, no matter how hard she tries!

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Note: Hey guys! I just wanted to say thank you for all the encouraging words and patience, despite the fact that I am pretty inconsistent with updating. ^^;

But I really appreciate all of you and I'm glad you are enjoying my story.

I know this chapter doesn't have a lot of Claire and Gray, but don't worry. I was just feeling that I needed to bring some of the other characters in because it was starting to feel like the world was only Claire, Gray, and occasionally the Harvest Goddess. Gray will be back next chapter~

So yeah! Thank you again for reading!