Sorry peoples, but… I couldn't seem to fit the party in this chapter. It's a thousand words longer than my other two, already. But I hope you enjoy it nonetheless! And thank you so much for the reviews! They make me want to keep writing more and more. Oh well, on with the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon or it's characters.

I felt an awful aching in my head. Mainly in the back, but it felt like the pain was radiating all around the inside. I wanted to open my eyes, I really did.

But I couldn't.

My eyelids were too heavy. I suppose I was semi-conscious now, because I could hear someone above me. At least I think they were above me. I tried to make out what they were saying; what their voice sounded like. I was starting to get annoyed at my not-completely-conscious self. I desperately wanted to hear what this person was saying and who they were.

After much focusing, I could understand the voice. It was definitely male. I sounded curt, but gentle. Who is this…?

"Claire… Claire, are you okay? Wake up, dammit!"

I giggled, despite the fact I was still not completely attentive of anything. It was Gray. I knew his stupid short temper. I opened my eyes and was staring back up at the blacksmith, just as I had predicted. His dark bluish gray eyes were locked with mine. It made my heart skip a beat in my chest.

His eyes didn't look annoyed, or angry. They looked, well, concerned. Worried.

Worried about me.

A moment after I opened my eyes, making him aware of my consciousness, his expression changed significantly. Now, instead of concern, he looked relieved. Thankful. Loving.

Loving? What? No. I mean, yes, he did look at me like that, but- Oh man. Whatever. I don't even care what I think anymore.

"Claire! Are you okay? What happened?!" He shouted, and covered his eyes with his hat again.

Damn hat. I hate that thing. Why can't he look at me?

"Goddess, Gray. Don't yell. My head hurts enough as it is!" I shouted, or tried to shout, back. I couldn't seem to raise my voice much without hurting my head anymore.

"…Sorry. But seriously, what happened?" He asked again in a much lower tone, his blue hat still coving the top half of his face.

I scrunched up my face, deep in thought. What did happen? That's right, I slipped on the milk and egg… In my kitchen. Where am I now?!

I sat up and looked around. I was on my bed. I looked over towards the kitchen area, and noticed the milk and egg mixture was cleaned up. Apparently Gray noticed my confusion at this, and explained what happened on his part.

"I came over earlier and knocked, but you didn't answer. I heard the TV on, so I knew you were home… Then I heard a crash, and… I came inside to see what was up. I found you unconscious on your kitchen floor in a mess of nasty milk. The oven was on, too. It freaked the hell out of me at first," He frowned, remembering the incident, "So I went over and tried to wake you up. You didn't respond. I put you on your bed, cleaned up the kitchen, and then you woke up."

"Um… Okay... Well, thanks so much for helping me, Gray! And happy birthday! Where did I put your present…?" I asked myself, getting up and looking around the room. Gray chuckled. His laughter made me want to cry, it was so beautiful.

Wow, that sounded so cheesy. Oh well, it's true, I suppose. I just have to keep myself from ACTUALLY crying when he laughs, or I'll be labeled the biggest freak in town…

"You mean the baked corn?" He asked. I turned towards him, my eyes gleaming.

"Yes! How did-"

"I found it. Thanks. I really, really love baked corn." He said, blushing, and pulled his hat down again.

"Sure thing," I said, trying to ignore his weird UMA hat, "So, how is your birthday going?"

He smirked. Was this good? I didn't know.

"It was good. Better than a lot of other birthdays I've had. Actually, this was one of the best." He smiled. I felt my stomach flutter.

"Really? That's great! What are you going to do next?" I asked, and then wished I hadn't. I sounded too excited. I inwardly smacked my forehead.

I'm so, so stupid. I seem like I care way too much. Ugh.

"Well, I was going to head back to the Inn and get some sleep."

Sleep?

"What?" I asked dumbly. He smiled at me again, causing my stomach to flutter again. It was nice.

"Sleep. The thing you're supposed to be doing at one in the morning. You know?" He said. I gasped and looked over at my clock. It was one thirteen in the morning.

"Oh my gosh! It's so late! I'm so sorry for keeping you here so long! I ruined your birthday! Oh no, no, no…" I said shaking my head with my eyes closed. I heard him laughing quietly from near my door.

"It's fine. I'm… Just glad you're all right. Don't go dying because of some baked corn, okay? I don't want a reason to hate the stuff." He said as he opened the door. I nodded and he left.

I went back over to my bed. My head didn't really hurt anymore, but my stomach was all in a knot. But, not really in a bad way. I got under my covers and quickly fell asleep, even though I was overly excited about what the morning would bring.

I creaked my eyes open, only to be nearly blinded with yellow sunlight pouring in my window. I yawned and turned over in my bed to get a good look at my clock. My eyes widened.

"Eleven o'clock?!" I shouted as I darted out of bed and brushed my hair. I was met with an unpleasant trouble: my hair had dried milk and egg in it.

Everywhere.

"Dammit dammit dammit! Ugh!" I screamed. So much for starting today off well.

I ran into my bathroom and turned on the shower. It took me nearly half an hour to get all of the dairy product out of my hair. The entire time I was bathing, I couldn't help but worry.

Oh no. Oh no. I'm late. I was supposed to help set up for the party. I'm late, late, late. And I have to take care of my animals! I don't have time for that… I can ask a few of the sprites to help me out, I suppose. Well, that's one problem solved.

I turned off the water and grabbed a towel. I wrapped it around my soaking wet body and ran out of the bathroom, leaving a trail of puddles from my hair all along my floor. I could clean it up later. I ran over to my dresser and pulled the top drawer open, and pulled out some undergarments. I set them on my bed and ran over to my closet.

What am I going to wear to the party? I have to set it out, so I can run back here to change fast later. Um…

I scanned my closet for anything suitable for a formal birthday party. That's what Gray and I had decided to have, with Ann's persuasion. I noticed the sapphire blue dress I had worn to my High School graduation. It was just longer than knee-length, and had spaghetti straps. It was utterly simple; it looked just like a dark blue silk sundress. I remembered my graduation, how it fit my figure perfectly.

Will it fit me now?

I fretfully pulled down the dress from the depths of my closet, and set it on the bed.

It better fit me now. If it doesn't, I'll have to wear my overalls.

Quickly, I went back over to my dresser and pulled out my usual attire: faded overalls and a red plaid shirt. I pulled them on over my dripping wet hair and slipped my shoes on as I watched the clock.

1:18pm

"Too late to visit Gray, I s'pose. I'll see him at the party." I said as I walked out the door into a cold, but sunny, day.

Why hasn't it snowed yet?

I tried to ignore the weather as I walked down the path, shoving my hands in my pockets. I looked around at the leafless trees. Just a week ago they were covered in a thick blanket of wonderful snow. Now the snow had melted off the trees and fences, but was still coating the ground ever so slightly. I sighed. This wasn't very 'wintery' weather. I looked up and realized I was already at the entrance to the Inn.

When I opened the door, Ann was nowhere to be seen. I looked around the deserted floor. No one. Not even Doug, the owner, was here. All the tables and chairs were gone, too. I walked over behind the counter and knocked on the door to the back room.

"Ann! Are you there? It's Claire! We're supposed to be setting up!" I shouted as I tapped on the thick wooden door. I heard a crash from the other side, then footsteps approaching the door. It flew open, revealing a tall and out of breath redhead.

"Claire! Where have you been?! We've been trying to decorate-"

"You have? But… The Inn is completely empty! The tables are even gone!" I argued. She sighed.

"No. Well, it is empty, but just so we could have a blank canvas when decorating," She said, then noticed my sopping wet hair, "What's up with your hair? Did you fall in the pond on the mountain?" She asked, faking concern. I rolled my eyes.

"Sure, sure. Let's hurry though! We have to get this place ready for a party in less than five hours!" I exclaimed as I picked up a few rolls of streamers. Ann nodded and grabbed a roll of tape.

I set the large white bowl I had been holding onto one of the tables, next to the red punch, and filled it with potato chips.

"Done!" I called out to Ann, who was throwing small strips of streamer into a garbage bag. She smiled at me.

"Great! And not a moment too soon! It's almost five thirty, Claire! You should head home and change!" She called, and I nodded.

I turned towards the door and put my hand on the knob, but then glanced back at the first floor of the Inn. Ann and I did a really good job, especially considering it was only the two of us and we finished in four hours.

The tables lined the walls, and had dark green tablecloths draped over them. A few of them had benches, so people could sit and eat if they wanted to. One of the tables on the right wall had refreshments on it, in different sizes of clean white bowls.

The bar didn't have a tablecloth; it was too long. So Ann and I twirled white and green streamers together and taped them onto the front of the bar. We blew up quite a few balloons, at least three-dozen, and let the float up to the ceiling. They were green, white, and blue. I laughed silently when I studied the wall behind the bar. Ann had tried to make and hang a poster that read:

Happy Birthday Claire and Gray!

But instead, she ended up with one that read:

happy bithday claie and gay

After she hung it up, I noticed her mistakes. She got so mad we had to take it down. I let her make a new one, and she did a great job. It was perfect.

Well, not perfect, she's missing the capitals and the exclamation point, but it's okay.

I left the Inn, feeling much better than I had when I woke up this morning. I whistled as I skipped back over to my farm. After I opened the door to my house and spied the beautiful blue dress on my bed, my heart sank.

Damn! I forgot to see if it fits!

I exhaled and picked the dress up. Stripping out of my overalls and shirt, I unzipped the side of the dress and pulled on. It slid on perfectly, and didn't look tight anywhere. It almost looked loose.

Whoa. Didn't see this one coming. It fits! And… I've lost weight since High School!

I chuckled and zipped the side up, then twirled in front of the mirror. I felt great, now. I pranced over to my bathroom and grabbed my hairbrush to start brushing through my -now dry- locks of blonde hair. It went down all the way to the center of my back, and I was very proud of it. My bangs weren't the best choice, but I loved them all the same.

I didn't have the heart to put my hair up, so I just pulled part of it back and stuck a sapphire clip in it, holding it there.

Hair: Done

I left my bathroom and went over to my dresser. On top of it I kept a small jewelry box. I opened it up and took out a pair of; you guessed it, sapphire stud earrings. I put them on and rummaged around, trying to find the necklace that matched them. I had gotten it, along with the earrings, for graduation from my parents. Aha! I pulled the necklace out of the box and put it on. It was just a small round blue gem on a silver cord.

Jewelry: Done

I was just about to leave when I realized something.

I'm not wearing any shoes!

I knew that the only shoes I brought with me were my farming shoes- Simple brown sneakers. And they were dirty. Really, really dirty. I sighed. This was a setback.

I could go barefoot. But the path is freezing. Ugh. What to do… Oh!

I shot over to my bed and pulled my dark blue slippers out from under the bed. They looked exactly like blue ballet flats, but they were warmer. I smiled and slipped them on, then flicked the lights off and left for the Inn.

So? Was it as bad as I think it is? I ended up adding in so many little things, I didn't have room (or time) for the party... Next time, for sure!