Chapter Two

"Barrett, just go talk to her," Ray complained for the billionth time, fingering a strand of hair that was escaping his ponytail. He twirled the strand around his finger thoughtfully, and as Barrett watched him do the habit he had had for years, he, Barrett, began to feel even more irritated.

"I can't," Barrett growled, his voice deep and gravelly. "You know that."

"Since when have you been shy?" Ray asked, glaring at him.

"Since when do I exactly talk to people? Except for you?"

Ray sighed. "True…but…come on Barrett. You're always saying how tough you are and how everything's always so easy. And you can't even talk to her?"

Barrett turned a deep red, which was something he didn't do often. "This is different!"

Ray sighed. "No it's not, Barrett. Come one. Dorothy is one of the most harmless, quietest, girls I've ever met. I would understand if it was someone as beautiful and prestigious as the wonderful Rosalind…" His voice trailed off, and he got that dreamy look that he always got when he mentioned the blue-haired daughter of the richest man, Herman, in town. Barrett sighed. Ray blinked, grinned sheepishly, and continued. "But it's not like Dorothy's going to glare at you and turn her back if you say hi."

Barrett just shook his head. "You don't understand! I mean…I'm not the best liked guy in town, you know?"

Ray patted his shoulder. "That my friend, is because you give them attitude. You're too busy being angry at your father and yourself, that you take it out on everyone else." He said it seriously, his light eyes focusing on Barrett, trying to convey what he was trying to say. Barrett looked away, and shrugged off Ray's hand. He knew it was the truth. He didn't need Ray to say anything, to remind him of how he acted.

Truth was, Barrett hardly ever got along with his father, and he had no exact idea why. Ever since he was a young kid, he knew he had always been independent, but he hadn't just brushed people aside like he always did nowadays. Now, every word that his father spoke, sent both of them into flying fits of rage, usually leading to Barrett staying overnight at the clinic with Ray and his family, and silence between him and his father for days.

Sometimes Barrett wished they didn't fight all the time. Actually…he wished it all the time, on the days when he had kicked himself out of the house to spend hours on the docks, or standing in Cherry Blossom Square, watching the petals fall. He wished that it could be like it used to be, where Byron, his father, was proud to have him as his son, where they went to festivals together, and spent long hours after dark just watching the stars, Byron teaching him the constellations, and just talking about the future. Barrett wished…it could go back to when Byron had wanted him to succeed him as mayor.

But the days were gone, changed, just like how fall turned into winter, and spring turned into summer. Except unlike the seasons, their old relationship never blossomed like the petals on the trees, again.

'I guess…' Barrett thought, 'People just drift apart. Not all families are perfect.'

And Ray understood that, Barrett knew. That was why he never got angry or upset when he mentioned his problems with his father, like he did with others. Ray also had family issues, even if they didn't involve him. He had told Barrett many times that his sister, the eccentric fortune teller Alicia, had hundreds of fights with his mother every week, some over stupid things, some over worse. Even when Barrett went over to hang out with Ray, his mother and sister were fighting, not even bothering to hide it from their guests.

Whenever Barrett ate dinner at their place, Alicia usually wasn't there. She was usually over at Cecilia's or Mana's, complaining or telling them their absurd futures.

That was probably why Barrett and Ray managed to stay so close. They both had something in common. The pain of families fighting. Of course, that wasn't the only thing they had in common, but it was what mostly drew them together, marked them almost as brothers.

Ray was like a brother to him.

Barrett sighed again. "I know…but I still don't know what to do. I mean…I've never really talked to girls before. Except to yell at Cammy to tell her to stop knocking into me when playing tag…and ordering stuff from Mana at the General Store."

"You just need practice. It took me a while to even say two words to Rosalind! And look at us now!"

"You're…friends."

"Yes! Friends! It's wonderful! It means I am one step closer to being more than a friend."

"Okay, since you're such a girl expert, tell me how to talk to Dorothy." Barrett smirked to himself. This should be good.

"Just say 'hi'."

Barrett stared at him, waiting for him to say more. He didn't. "That's it?" he said incredulously. "Hi?"

Ray nodded. "Yep. Trust me, if you really like this Dorothy girl, it will be harder than it sounds."

Barrett shook his head disbelievingly, but didn't argue. "Okay. Fine. If I see her, I'll say hi." He stood up and brushed himself off. The two of them had been sitting in front of the clinic, eating Ray's mother's fabulous pumpkin pudding, and his back ached from leaning against the stone wall, and from sitting for so long. He picked up the plate that had held the pudding, inspected for any leftovers, found several ants devouring the leftover globs of sweetness, and sighed, handing it to Ray, who took it and headed inside to place them in the dishwasher upstairs, in the house part of the pretty stone building made from cream-colored stone.

Barrett stood in front of the door, studying the blue cross that hung above it, when he heard a sound. It was a quiet one, sort of a whimper, and he tensed for a moment, listening, without moving. It came again, and his eyebrows raised when he realized it sounded…human. Girlish.

He turned, and his heart almost stopped with shock.

Dorothy stood in front of him, clutching that doll she always held, (Fern, he as sure the doll was called), her green and white hood shielding the upper half of her face. He could see her silver-green pigtails poking out on either side of her face, so unlike her sister's red ones, and he had to push down the intense urge to reach out and stroke the hairs, and then her face. He had to resist the urge to pull down her hood, and finally see how beautiful she really was, what color her eyes really were. What he could see of her pale cheeks, were now red.

He turned red himself, and looked down, at her feet, which were small and hidden behind normal brown shoes with buckles. Her legs were thin, but looked smooth and shapely, and her knees were pressed together, so she stood sort of like a young toddler. He could hear her trying to speak, but it only came out as soft sort of whimpers.

His heart thumped in his chest. What should he say? What should he do? What was she doing here? Had this been planned? Had Ray set him up, at this exact moment, to go inside so he would be left alone with Dorothy? And why couldn't she say anything? Was she really that shy, as everyone said she was? Or was she just shy around him? Was…was she intimidated by him? Did she listen to all of the stories people told about him? The stories of how he was just a bitter guy who had a bite and a bark that was equally bad?

He opened his mouth to say something, but no sound came out. What could he say? What had Ray told him to say again? Oh yeah…um…. "Uh…hey Dorothy."

"Hi…Barrett…" she squeaked. Relief flashed through him. That wasn't so hard.

"What…what brings you here?" God, he sounded like an idiot.

"I…um…I…"

"Oh hey Dorothy!" Barrett grimaced and turned to glare at Ray, who had chosen that moment to appear, grinning like a fool. "You're here early!" Here early? For what?

"Oh…" she said. "Well…I was…walking…and I thought…"

"Oh no need to explain yourself," Ray said cheerfully. "The early bird gets the worm, as the old saying goes! Come in! My mom can't wait to start your training!"

Barrett looked at the two of them. Training? What training? What is going on?

"I'm sorry," Ray continued. "Did I interrupt your chat with Barrett?"

Barrett glared at him. What happened to the nice, quiet Ray? The Ray that actually SHUT up?

"No…um…I was trying to get in but…he was…blocking my way…"

Heat took over Barrett's face. So that was what Dorothy had been trying to say. She has wanted to get inside. She hadn't wanted to talk to him.

Boy did he feel like a dumbass.

He stepped aside, head ducked low, not even wanting to look at the face Ray must be giving him. A face full of pity. Or maybe laughter at his embarrassment. "Sorry," he said it sort of savagely. "I'd hate to interrupt your…?"

"Training," Ray explained, looking uneasily between him, and Dorothy, who looked shaken by Barrett's sudden change in tone. "My mom's teaching her how to be a nurse…"

"I've…I've always wanted to be one…" Dorothy whispered, looking down.

"Oh. Well…that's a good goal for you to achieve Dorothy," Barrett murmured, feeling more of a jackass after seeing Dorothy's frightened face.

"Thank you…" she said quietly. "Now…if you…may excuse me?" She ducked past them, and into the clinic, her cloak brushing against Barrett's arm before she disappeared inside.

They waited two seconds, before Barrett let out a loud groan. "Ugh!!! I'm such a freaking…jackass!"

Ray sighed and patted his back. "Calm down. Tell me what happened."

"You went inside…and I was looking at the door, when I heard her, and I turned, and she was there, and I said hi, and she said hi, and she was going to say something else, and then you came, and then I acted like a jerk because I realized she only talked to me because I was standing in the way of her getting inside! God damn it!"

Ray shook his head. "Well…at least you said hi. You just can't let your anger get the best of you. Here, how about I do you a favor? I'll ask her what her favorite things are, and then you go out and get them for her. That way, she'll totally think you're this great guy, who appreciates her and gives her gifts, and bada bing bada boom,s he's all yours."

"Well…if it helps me redeem myself…"

"It will. Promise."

Barrett just looked at him through his bright blue eye, the other one covered by the red scarf he wrapped around his head, a scarf his mother had knitted for him when he was just a toddler. He flexed his fingers in his gloves, and licked his lips, thinking of Dorothy, and the flash of her sweet scent he had gotten when she passed by.

"Okay then," he said. "I'm gonna head back to my place. My dad should be taking his walk now, so I should be able to get home and be able to fall asleep before he comes back."

"Okay…" Ray nodded, and his voice sounded uneasy. Barrett felt a small twinge of compassion and even affection for his friend, one of his only ones, because he knew that Ray pitied him for having to take great pains to avoid his father the whole time. Normally, Barrett despised pity, but from Ray, it was alright. He was a friend after all, someone who knew him enough to take pity on him.

And Barrett pitied him too.

As he walked home, passing by the bulletin board and the trickling fountain, he thought of Dorothy. She was beautiful. Everything about her was beautiful. She was such a shy, gentle person, someone he wanted to wrap his arms around and protect. He wanted to be the one…the one who held her when she cried, and when she was scared, and be the only one she would ever need, the only one she would ever have to talk to.

He wished he could talk to her. He wished he could burrow his face in her soft hair, wished he could look into her eyes, eyes that would be the windows to her soul, eyes that no one except probably her father and her sister had ever seen before. He wanted to hold her against him, learn what made her happy, what made her sad, or what made her cry and laugh. He wanted to hear her soft, sweet voice once more, wanted to hear her say his name.

God…since when had he become such a…such a softie?

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A/N Okay for all who know Barrett and have played Rune Factory 2, I know Barrett is not that much of a…softie…lover boy. But this is my fanfic…so…take it or leave it. I would have to say Barrett is one of my favorite characters, and him and Dorothy are definitely one of my favorite pairings, even though I married her with Kyle in the game haha. Next chapter will probably be about Jake and his feelings for Cecilia, along with the dinner with Mana and the girls. So stay tuned. AND REVIEW!!!! Please ;D I'll give you Barrett plushies X)

The Devil's Shadow