Claire opened the door to the church. It was usually a pretty quiet building, but it was absolutely silent today. Carter looked up at her from the altar and gave her a friendly nod, quickly putting his finger to his lips with a playful grin. He cocked his head in the direction of the young man sitting in the front pew and looked back at her, beaming.

The young woman could tell that Carter was playing some sort of game, but she was confused. She shrugged at him, quickly aware that rule number one was no talking. Carter let out a melodramatic yet silent sigh and pointed at her, drew a smile on his face with his forefingers, and then pointed at Cliff.

Claire nodded. Carter wanted her to cheer up their friend. She crept along the left wall of the church, and Carter grinned at her. She got to the far end of the pew and stole a glance at Cliff's face. His deep blue eyes were wide, but his emotions were unreadable as they bored into the stained glass windows across from him as if they would reveal the mysteries of the universe if he stared long enough. The young man almost looked like he was searching for something as he sat silently, spellbound; Cliff was brooding again. Based on previous experiences of finding him this way, it was likely he had spent the whole day here, forgetting that the entire world existed. Claire frowned and her heart suddenly ached with an indescribable pain; she hadn't seen her friend like this for quite a while. She looked up at Carter, who still had that silly smile plastered across his face. Maybe sneaking up on Cliff wasn't such a good idea, and perhaps some quiet company was all he needed instead.

The priest pointed at her and made a subtle walking motion with his fingers and motioned for her to duck down.

He wanted her to crawl between the pews?!

Claire gestured at herself with a quizzical look on her face and pointed at the floor, as if to ask if the pastor had gone completely mad. Carter gave her an emphatic nod and her sadness melted away a little. She stifled a small smile; perhaps he was a little insane, but the priest was very good at Charades. Claire was aware that if anyone could cheer up Cliff, it was Carter; she considered following his orders.

The farmer never thought that she would see the day when a pastor would encourage shenanigans in a church, but then again, Carter wasn't like any priest she had met before. Claire had a feeling that disobeying a man of the cloth would probably put her on the Harvest Goddess's naughty list, and having that mindset didn't leave her with much choice. The young woman shrugged as she ducked down and slowly began crawling between the pews as silently as she could.

The farmer had to bite back a laugh when she paused and reflected on how ridiculous the situation had become. What had started as a simple visit was quickly turning into one of Stu and May's "super-secret expeditions" Cliff had described to her while she visited the room at the inn. She looked under the pew and stopped when she saw her friend's soft leather footwear. Her eyes lingered on them for a moment. They were simple leather moccasins, but she had never seen a pair of shoes so worn out in her life; she'd be surprised if they would hold together for another season, and Claire doubted they actually provided his feet with much protection. The young woman wondered what kinds of terrain the shoes had carried her friend across – gravely paths, lush grassy fields, cobblestones, rocky mountain trails… How far had he come from, anyway? She would eagerly ask him if it wasn't for the fact that he seemed deeply wounded to provide so much as miniscule details about his past. Claire snapped out of her trance as she remembered her task at hand. To be honest, she was surprised he hadn't noticed her yet. The young woman slowly rose up from behind him with a straight face and Carter had to turn around to stifle a laugh, which he poorly disguised as a cough.

Claire froze; but Cliff was still off in his own little world. She leaned forward, suddenly realizing she hadn't thought of what she was going to do once she actually got there. She edged closer and stared at the back of her friend's head. His ponytail fell just over the edge of the pew; the tips of his chocolate brown locks faded into blonde. All of his time outside fishing and foraging must have sun-bleached his hair a bit, she realized. Claire found herself staring in fascination at it. Beauty wasn't a word she simply threw around, especially for men, but her friend's tresses gleamed in the sunlight pouring through the window. She picked up subtle hints of blonde and red in his healthy locks, and beautiful was the first word that came to mind.

Her eyes flicked to the priest and her face felt hot; she was losing focus of her goal. Claire's gaze returned at the back of her friend's head. It may have been because she just spent so much time admiring it, but giving his hair a tug seemed a little too mean-spirited. She would have to do something else. Her eyes moved to his ear; she didn't want to yell and scare him, either… Cliff needed tenderness today, not a bully. A grin spread across her face as an idea came to her.

"Guess who?" She whispered playfully into his ear and covered his eyes with her hands.

He immediately jumped, nearly slamming his head back into her. For a brief moment, his body language suggested he thought he was being attacked. He calmed down as he appeared to remember he was in a church with the priest present. "W-who?"

"You gotta guess," Claire teased, noticing that his ears had turned bright red.

"C-Claire?" There was a hint of hopefulness in his voice.

She knew that she had made it painfully obvious, but the way he had said her name with the slightest touch of eagerness caused a pleased chuckle to escape her lips. Perhaps she really did have the power to cheer him up. "Yep!" She grinned and rested her hands on the back of the pew.

"Wh-what are you doing here?" Cliff whirled around to look at her; his face was flushed. He looked startled, but excited to see her.

Carter laughed; he had thoroughly enjoyed the farmer's performance. "You've let yourself get very rusty from last hunting season if you didn't notice her, Cliff."

"I-I wasn't expecting someone to surprise me like that," The young man was embarrassed as he stammered, looking down at his feet. "S-So, what are you doing here?" He repeated; surely she didn't come to the far side of town to see him…

It was a good question; the farmer didn't have an immediate answer for him. She had wandered from her farm to the far side of town without much thought, and she didn't have any intentions on going to confession today. Claire gave him a friendly smile. "I came to say hi." She realized.

"Oh… hi!" He laughed, his face easing up a bit. The farmer was surprised how easily she had knocked him out of his daylong trance.

"Are you doing okay?" She tried to sound cheerful, but her eyes were filled with concern.

"I'm… alright…" He gave her a sad smile.

His friend was eager to see a more genuine expression of relief from what was bothering him than what he was providing. She got the feeling that if he wanted to talk about it, he would bring it up, but maybe an activity outside of the church walls would keep him from dwelling. "Well, let's go… do something fun!" Claire suggested, standing up. The priest gave her a thumbs-up.

"… Like what?" Her friend looked up at her sadly as if such a thing didn't exist; he was quickly going back into his depressive state.

Claire froze; those eyes he was making hurt to look at. "I dunno…"

The young man began to slouch down again in the pew.

The young woman became more adamant about them needing to go somewhere. She thought of how much fun they had at Beach Day. The crystal blue water, the glistening white sand, the cheerful squawking of seagulls and the fresh smell of salty ocean air - Mineral Beach was a peaceful, relaxing place. "We're going to the beach," She announced.

"We are?" He sat back up, and a smile crept back onto his lips.

She became more convinced that she had picked the right destination. "Yeah! Remember when I said we were going to go out together for fun? Well, we're going right now!" Claire hoped she had come off as assertive yet friendly. She reached out her hands to pull him up, and she was pleasantly surprised when he zealously took them in his.

"A-Alright…" A grateful expression spread across his face.

0o0o0o0

Claire hadn't given much thought to what they'd actually do at the beach. It was early evening and the tide was out. She set down her rucksack under an umbrella and deposited her socks and shoes beside it. She rolled up her pant legs and her friend did the same. The farmer noticed the entire process was much more laborious for her friend; the young man almost always had the bottom half of his legs wrapped as if he was prepared go out to hunt or fish, whether or not he was actually doing either of these activities.

Neither of them really said much; they wandered the beach, side by side, staring into the tide pools. The friends stood at the water's edge for several minutes, feeling the waves wash over their ankles and watching the water pull the loose grains of sand back into the ocean. Claire loosely intertwined her arm with his and he let out a soft sigh, his eyes never moving from the blue waves. Perhaps he wasn't in the mood for talking today, Claire realized.

Cliff finally gave her back a gentle pat before taking his leave of her, walking over to a large tide pool and gazing into it as if he was expecting the Harvest Goddess herself to emerge from it. He hadn't intended on stealing her attention, but the farmer turned around and found herself watching him, curious as to what was going on through his head. The young woman joined her friend; she felt that a gentle approach was necessary today, but she wanted to be available if he chose to talk. They watched the water in silence for several minutes.

"Ivy's twenty-three today…" He stared into the pool emotionlessly.

Ivy… When had she heard that name? Claire wracked her brain. "Ah, your sister," The farmer assumed Cliff's sibling had passed away based on the fact that he had always referred to her in the past tense and he was receiving special counseling from Carter, but the way he spoke of her made it sound like she was still very much alive.

He nodded, and she noticed that he had a very distinct grieving expression when he thought of his sister. It had a sadder tone than the usual demeanor he used while sitting alone at the church. Claire had seen it last when they ate lunch together at the inn.

The inn… Claire recalled her discussion with the roommates and remembered that Ann's twenty-third birthday would be coming up. "Hey, she's almost Ann's twin, huh?" The young woman thought that bringing a mutual friend into the conversation might help.

"They're almost too much alike sometimes." He picked up a small rock out of the tide pool and threw it into the surf, as if he were rejecting the stone and the idea. "They have the same smile… Similar mannerisms… Sometimes that's comforting, but other times…" His voice trailed off.

It reminds me of everything I've lost…

"Would it help to talk about Ivy?" His friend ventured.

"I… I dunno…" He finally admitted. "I've never really told anyone much about her other than Carter. Sometimes it feels better to pretend I don't have a sibling at all…" His voice faltered and he stared back at the water.

She waited for him to volunteer some more information about his sister, but he remained silent, crouching down to study the tide pool more closely, digging his toes into the sand. Claire joined him, poking at the water with a small piece of driftwood.

"People… used to say we almost looked like twins," He said softly, staring down at his feet.

She imagined a young woman with long chocolate hair and expressive deep blue eyes. "She must be very pretty," Claire murmured, making ripples in the tide pool with her piece of wood.

She heard the beginnings of a chuckle. "She'd roll her eyes at you if you told her that," Claire's gaze moved to her friend and she noticed a hint of a smile on his face. She wondered if he had picked up on the indirect compliment; his cheeks were lightly pink. "She was definitely… something…"

He still was referring to her in the past tense; it seemed likely they weren't currently in contact with each other. Claire wondered if they had some sort falling out, but she knew better than to ask. She could tell that his couple of sentences regarding his sister had been hard enough for him to get out; the young man almost seemed as if he was missing a part of himself.

"Don't get me wrong, spending time with Ann helps me more than she could ever know." He scooped up a handful of water and sand and let it drizzle through his fingers. The grains dripped onto the ground, creating a structure that resembled an anthill. "But…" He bit his lip and continued silently playing in the sand.

His friend edged closer to him and contributed to his creation; feeling the sediment flow through her fingers in such a fluid motion was strangely satisfying.

Cliff's voice was pensive. "I've been thinking about this ever since you and I went out for lunch together... Things have to change…"

At what point had he stopped regularly stuttering around her? He had already changed so much since they first met. "Change…" She echoed him with a murmur as she added to the pile. That was the very thing she had wanted for herself ever since she moved to Mineral Town.

"Yeah… I have to find a way to be happy here… I've moved so much, but… I wonder if it was really the locations that were the source of the problem." His voice was strangely calm as he stared at the sand.

Claire thought of her time in the city and all of the unhappy jobs she worked. "We have to learn how to make our own happiness instead of hoping it will come to us," she said as much to herself as to her friend. She realized her craving for something new had been satiated, but she hadn't taken the time to enjoy it. Claire hadn't really thought about it until now. She noticed conversations with Cliff were like that; she found herself contemplating her thoughts and emotions a lot more.

Her gaze moved over to her friend; he was continuing with his sand tower as if it were a very important project. The summer breeze played at his shaggy hair, but he didn't brush it out of his face. The fading sunlight reflected off of it, almost creating a halo on the top of his head. Claire liked to think her observation was poetic in the way Mary might describe one of her characters, but the farmer wasn't sure if her rendering had any deeper meaning; it was simply what she saw, and perhaps that was enough. Cliff's thick brows were furrowed in concentration, and Claire wondered if he was deep in thought or just very serious about his sandcastles. She figured it was the first reason; it seemed the more he had on his mind, the quieter he became.

Claire's eyes traveled from his face to his body. His skin had become rather tanned since spring, she observed with pleasure. This was another piece of visible evidence that that he wasn't spending all of his time inside brooding. She looked at her own arms and realized her skin had darkened a bit as well. She couldn't remember the last time she had been outdoors enough to get some color on her skin before taking over the farm. The young woman sheepishly tugged at her sleeves and realized she had achieved the quintessential farmer's tan.

Her friend didn't sport the same tan lines, as he didn't wear sleeves, and he stopped wearing his bracers in the hot weather. He had been outside, catching fish and foraging; he was providing for himself, Claire realized with satisfaction. He didn't have a job, but he was still trying to remain in control of his own life. They really weren't that different from each other after all. His facial features gradually relaxed, and Claire noticed for the first time that Cliff had a very pleasant face when it wasn't filled with worry. He looked a bit relieved, as if he had just finished puzzling out something.

"Thank you, Claire." His deep blue eyes moved up to hers and he gave her an honest smile. "I'm able to see things more clearly when I'm with you."

"I feel the same way," She realized with a grin. When he actually gave her a genuine one, he had such a nice smile; if only she could see it more often…

Cliff had built the sand pile to a precarious height and it toppled over without warning. He let out a delighted laugh. "It got pretty tall, huh?"

"Yeah!" She giggled as she rinsed off her hands in the tide pool. Her expression became more solemn as she stared at the remains of their sandcastle. "After all, we can only handle so much burden ourselves until we crumble apart…"

Her friend looked at her with a thoughtful expression and the smile faded from his face a bit.

"I… I w-want you… to feel like you can talk to me, Cliff…" The young woman stammered, embarrassed by her own boldness. Her heart mysteriously thudded in her chest and she was suddenly aware of how hot out it was. Surely, she had intimidated him with those words…

"Y-you really do, huh?" His voice was hardly audible. Their eyes locked and Claire could see that his face was nearly burgundy. The brunette's voice became more confident. "I'm… going to try my best to stay here permanently." His entire face lit up.

Claire's entire mood lifted. "Good, because it wouldn't feel like home without you here," she let out a carefree giggle.

He gave her a kind gaze, and the farmer noticed his eyes were shining at her the same way she noticed the other evening; they were the same color as the ocean.

The tide was coming in; they sat on the end of the pier together and watched the sun's rays escape over the horizon.

"Beautiful…" Claire murmured, admiring the pinks, purples, and oranges in the early evening sky.

"I wonder if she's watching the same sunset…" The young man's expression was unreadable.

Claire rested a caring hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure she is."

Happy birthday, Ivy, Cliff mouthed as he looked over the azure waves. Wherever you are…

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: Why do I give my characters such good advice and not follow it myself? Ugh. The title of the chapter is based from a line from 11 Acorn Lane's "Spend My Time With You". A much peppier song than the mood of this chapter, but sweet sentiment is there. The lyrics are just too dang cute and pure. Hope y'all enjoyed the chapter. Comments? Questions? Feel free to leave me a review and let me know what you think.