I'm back with Chapter 5 of Jealous Heart. Thank you Greaced and whatthefritopie for the reviews. I love getting reviews.

whatthefritopie: Hey, I never actually thought about Ann. That gives me an idea. Thanks! You'll see some of Ann in the upcoming chapters ;)

Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon or any of its characters/places

Chapter 5

Truth or Dare

That night, I lay in bed awake for three hours, thinking of how I nearly died, and how Cliff saved me, and then how he nearly died. And all because I let the waves pull me into a rip.

It was 11:30pm when I finally drifted off to sleep. But I didn't sleep for long. The image of Cliff lying on the beach, pale and unmoving would drift into my dreams and I'd wake up immediately. Every time I fell back to sleep that image would float into my head, looking worse each time. By early morning the image I saw was pale and bleeding dark red blood from the side of his head. His eyelids were black, standing out against his pale skin, and his lips were dry and cracked. He looked absolutely horrible. I woke up with a start, gasping. I sat up in my bed, hyperventilating. I looked at my clock. It was 6am. There was no way I was going back to sleep. I couldn't bear to see that image again. So instead I climbed out of bed, got dressed and left the house. It was 7, and the clinic didn't open until 9, so I decided to walk around for a while.

The next thing I knew, I was standing at Claire's farm, Violet Farm. I remembered when Claire was my best friend, and whenever I was upset or stressed I'd come down here and she's comfort me. But we weren't best friends now. She was a lousy, love-stealing, heart breaking girl.

She didn't know, said a part of my brain. My shoulder angel, I suppose. She didn't know you liked Gray.

Then I remembered. Claire did know. I had told her.

We were both around seventeen or eighteen years old. It was the beginning of Claire's second year in Mineral Town, and we were best friends. I was sleeping over at her house, and we were playing truth or dare.

"Your turn!" said Claire excitedly. "Truth or dare?"

"Truth!" I exclaimed immediately. The last time I had picked dare Claire made me model my underwear.

"OK," said Claire, thinking hard. "Which guy here do you have a crush on?"

I looked away. "No one. I don't have a crush on anyone."

Claire laughed. "Mary, you are the most hopeless liar on the planet. Come on, who is it?"

"Can I pick dare, then?" I asked.

"Fine," said Claire. "I dare you to scream the name of your crush at the top of your lungs."

"HEY! That's not fair!" I laughed.

"Come on, Mary. Who is it?"

I blushed. "G-Gray."

And now, three years later, she's going out with him. And she knew. She knew I liked him and she goes and breaks my heart. I hate her!

I heard a familiar whistle, and Claire came out of chicken coop. Quickly, I ran into her stable and hid in a pile of hay. I didn't think before running, so once I got into the hay I thought about how stupid I was. But the whistling was coming closer. Claire entered the barn. The first thing I noticed was that she was wearing a silver necklace with a ruby heart at the end. Claire giggled and walked over to her horse.

"Hello Stardust!" she said. "Look what Gray put in my letter box today." She touched the ruby heart. "I wish he'd propose to me already so we can live happily ever after, and maybe even start a family."

She blushed at the thought. I sniffed, a tear running down my cheeks.

Claire brushed her horse, and then skipped merrily outside. I climbed from the pile of hay, shaking it out of my hair. Stardust neighed in surprise.

"Shh!" I said quickly. I poked my head out of the stable door. No sign of Claire. I raced out the stable and ran towards the exit, but Claire appeared out of nowhere.

"Mary?" she asked. I stopped in my tracks. Great, does nothing get past this girl?

"Mary, what are you doing here? It's 7:30!"

I thought quickly. "I, um, just wanted to say hi. Oh Goddess, that is the most hopeless excuse ever to be told.

But Claire believed it. "Oh OK," she said excitedly. "Would you like to come in? I've finished work for the day."

Finished at 7:30! There is something seriously wrong with this girl.

"Oh, it's OK, I should-." Claire cut me off.

"I insist, Mary! Come on." And with that she grabbed my arm and dragged me inside.

She sat on the couch, motioning for me to join her. Hesitantly, I sat next to her.

"Goddess, Mary," she said. "You look like you didn't sleep a wink last night. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," I said.

"Mary, you're a hopeless liar." Funny, you believed my lie when I said I was stopping by to say hi… "Mary, what's up?"

"I…umm," I thought for a moment, but decided to tell the truth. "I was worried about Cliff. He almost drowned yesterday, and he's in hospital."

"Oh Mary," she said, hugging me. "I'm sure he'll be fine."

"I know, but I was just so worried about him and-." She cut me off again.

"Mary," she said, her eyes growing wide. "Oh my Goddess, you have a crush on Cliff!"

"What? No!"

"Mary likes Cliff! Mary likes Cliff!" she chanted.

"Claire, I don't like Cliff, I was just worried."

"Oh come on, it's obvious you like him. I'm your best friend, Mary. You don't have to keep it a secret from me."

"I DON'T HAVE A CRUSH ON CLIFF!" I snapped. I stormed out of the house, seeing Claire's surprised and hurt expression through the window. Good. I thought. Serves you right.

***

I picked a bunch of flowers on my way to the Clinic. It seemed right, to thank him for saving me. Then I paced outside the Clinic for ten minutes before Elli finally arrived with the keys.

"Mary? You're up early."

"Oh, I just wanted to see that Cliff was OK," I said. Elli smiled.

"Come on."

Mary led me to the curtained room, where Cliff lay, asleep. I saw a note from Carter beside his bed. It said something about the Goddess and hoping he'd get well soon. On the other side of his bed was a bunch of flowers and another note.

Dear Cliff,

Hope you get well soon! I was so worried when you didn't come back to the Inn. Dad told me what had happened. I'm so glad you're alive. Don't you ever scare me like that again!

Ann

Elli caught me looking at the notes. "I gave Doug a call yesterday saying that Cliff was staying in the Clinic overnight. Doug told Ann. I have no idea how Carter found out though."

I put the flowers beside Cliff's bed, along with a small note saying thank you. I couldn't help feeling a little jealous. Ann had given him a much nicer bunch of flowers, and a longer note. I shook my head. What's wrong with me? Ann's allowed to give him a nice bunch of flowers.

"When do you think he'll be able to leave?" I asked Elli.

"Umm, I'm not sure," she said.

"We're keeping him overnight again," said Doctor, entering the room. "We have to run a few more tests to make sure he doesn't have a brain bleed, as he's still drifting in and out of consciousness. But he should be fine."

I wasn't convinced. Elli saw my concern.

"The tests should be finished this afternoon. I'll give you a call then, if you like."

"No, I'll stop by after lunch again anyway." I said.

"He'll be fine, Mary," said Elli.

"Yeah, I know," I said. "I…I think I'll go see Carter. He's probably lonely now that Cliff isn't around."

When I started writing this, I had no idea what was going to happen...I never expected Cliff to come close to dying... Any ideas that you have will be gratefully accepted. And remember, anyone can review now, even anonymous reviewers. I love getting reviews!