Disclaimer: Harvest Moon and all related characters are the exclusive property of Natsume.
The fence rattled beneath his touch, prompting him to let go. But the young woman perched atop the stoop just outside of the supermarket did not stir, keeping her tranquil gaze focused on the evening sky. He felt his chest tighten in longing, even as a wave of fear swept over him. What would she say if she glanced over and caught him watching her? What would he--could he--say in response? He found himself taking several steps backwards. He simply couldn't risk it. Not with her. Not with Karen.
It wasn't even as if he'd purposefully intended to intrude on her privacy like this. He'd merely been heading home from the Inn when he'd seen her sitting there. And, for some reason, he'd been filled with an urgent, whining sense of panic; he'd rather felt as if his feet were rooted to the ground. Thus, he was reduced to staring openly at her, like some smitten fool.
The funny thing was, he and Karen were anything but strangers. In fact, they were quite good friends. They'd taken to hanging out so much the summer prior that Ann had cornered him one day and asked him, quite frankly, what was going on between the two of them. But, at the time, he'd felt nothing but companionship towards her, and he'd answered accordingly. And although Ann hadn't quite looked convinced, she'd accepted his response at face value and had let the subject drop.
However, with time, he'd been forced to reevaluate this statement. It seemed his feelings for her had gradually evolved until, at some point in time, he'd developed quite the crush on his young lady friend.
The faint crunching of leaves drew his attention back to the scene at hand. For a moment, all was silent, and then… "Karen?"
Jack felt his lips curl into a sneer.
But Karen looked up, smiling. "Hey, Rick."
"What're you doing out here?" He reached up to brush several strands of orange hair from his face, revealing a concerned expression.
"My parents are arguing," She explained, rolling her emerald eyes. "Or rather, my mother is yelling at my father."
Rick looked sympathetic. Reaching out to place his hand on her shoulder, he gently inquired, "Don't want to listen to that?"
Jack's eyes narrowed, following the path of Rick's hand as the other man moved it up and down her back in what was clearly meant to be a comforting gesture.
She sighed, heavily. "It's not that…"
"Then?"
Her cheeks reddened. "I don't want to be there when they kiss and make up."
Rick chuckled, a sound which Jack found increasingly annoying. "I see. My parents are the same way--when my dad's around, at least. So I can understand where you're coming from."
"You can, can you?" Karen's voice had taken on a somewhat dreamy quality. "Hmm…"
Rick fidgeted uncomfortably. "Yeah… So, um…"
Jack tensed.
But Rick had tapped into his confidence, and there was no stopping him now. Any hope that Jack might have had about the other man chickening out was dashed.
"Want to come over and hang out at my place for awhile, then?"
Karen visibly faltered. "Eh?"
"I can't imagine it's very comfortable out here in the cold," Rick grinned cheekily. "This way, you can keep warm while you wait for things to cool down."
It took all of Jack's will not to scream, "Stop pressuring her, you idiot!" But while that would probably create enough of a distraction to keep her from going with him, he didn't particularly fancy explaining his presence or his knowledge of the situation to either of the two. So he was forced to wait with baited breath for her response.
"Why not?" She grinned, reaching out to take his arm, which he had offered to her immediately upon receiving her favorable reply.
Rick's eyes glittered with an emotion Jack was all too familiar with. Quite suddenly, he felt his stomach churn. His chest clenched in such a way that he was forced to drop down on one knee to relieve the pain. His mind tried to reason that he was overreacting, but his heart knew he'd lost not only the battle, but the entire war. Because he'd seen the same expression of euphoria that Rick wore present in Karen's own face as she'd placed her head upon her 'much dearer' friend's shoulder and allowed him to lead her down the street and out of sight.
Jack didn't know which hurt worse: the fact that he'd lost his shot with the woman he'd come to love, or the fact that she hadn't heard his anguished moan, even as she snuggled close to the orange-haired man with his arm slung across her shoulder and the triumphant gleam in his eyes.
A/N: Was playing Back to Nature last night and happened across this scene. It irritated me only marginally less than it irritated Jack in this story. Which, given his reactions, is certainly saying something.
Dialogue is extended from that in the actual game and isn't exactly the same to begin with. There may or may not be a semi-sequel to this, in which Jack will discover that not all hope was lost after all. But I am very fickle about producing updates and such, so please, people: don't get your hopes up too much. I don't want to disappoint. Of course, this is assuming you liked this to begin with, eh?
If there is no continuation of this, then it will continue to exist as a stand-alone one-shot, mmkay? Just making sure we're in the clear here. Don't want my inbox full of nasty, complaining e-mails.
Anyway, sorry if the beginning part of this isn't quite up to par. Wasn't too fond of it, personally. In fact, there's only a small part of this that I do like. Was rather tough to get out on the paper, truth be told. That having been said…
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