I was so excited to be writing this story that I had to write the second chapter and upload it tonight! I made an effort to create a longer chapter filled with more RaegerXAnnie fluff, as well as some jealousy too. Dakoda is a character I made up, but she is based on one of the girls in Raeger's yellow heart event in the game.

I will continue to upload regularly!

I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. :)

Sure enough, the next morning, Raeger came back to do Annie's chores, this time dressed more appropriately in a brown T-shirt and old jeans. Annie had already watered her few crops before he had arrived, so she didn't have much to do. She sat inside, holding ice (which Raeger had brought for her) against her sprained wrist. It had swollen considerably, so she had taken the brace off to apple ice. It still hurt her if she moved it at all, so she was careful as she held it still on the dining room table.

Rusty seemed to have wandered off, but that was to be expected of a feral cat, Annie supposed. Hopefully he would come back and get used to the place, so she wouldn't have to be alone in her home. She sighed, wanting to be doing things outside instead of sitting here icing her sprained wrist. A red-winged blackbird fluttered up to her windowsill, whistling a slurred but cheery terrr-eeeee and taunting her with its freedom.

After what seemed like an hour, Annie decided her wrist would be fine and placed her brace back on, then put the ice away in her freezer. She struggled into her bright red sweater, since the storm seemed to have brought a cold front with it. She grumbled at the lump her wrist brace was making underneath the sleeve over her right arm, and pulled the sleeve up to rest behind the brace. There, nice and attractive.

Her gaze sweeping the material bin where clumps of orange Rusty fur remained, Annie walked outside, and collided directly with Raeger, her covered wrist wedged between their bodies.

Annie made a startled noise, half surprise and half pain. Heat seemed to spread throughout her whole body as her nose made impact with Raeger's chin. But mostly, her wrist seared with pain. "Shit, shit, shit.." She winced in pain as she backed quickly away from him and grasped her wrist to her chest.

"Oh man, are you alright? I was just coming in, I didn't see you," Raeger said apologetically, concern scrunching his brow.

"It's fine, it's... Oh, shit." Annie began to feel dizzy and shut her eyes, feeling Raeger's hand on her uninjured arm, gently guiding her inside.

She sat down on her unmade bed (dealing with sheets with only one hand was difficult, and the least of her problems) and leaned back into her pillow. Letting out the breath she had been holding, she began to relax. "Thanks, Raeger." She looked over at him.

He was pulling up a chair from the dining room table, and he sat beside her bed. "Of course. My fault anyway," he stated. "I wasn't looking where I was going."

Annie laughed. She hadn't been either. Being cooped up with her injured wrist was numbing her mind. "So how were the chickens today?"

"Messy," he said, but not grumpily. "How did you decide to start farming? Fritz told me you moved here from the city, and taking care of this farm must be very different."

"It is, but it's worth it, I think." Annie remembered the busy, bustling city, and the unfriendly people. The pollution, like a constant grey fog, made it difficult to breathe there, but out here in the country she felt how clean the air was. It was like she could finally think straight. "I'm not a city person. Too busy there."

"Wasn't it hard to leave your family?"

"Yeah, but it was harder to stay. I went to school there and had friends and everything too, but I think they all knew as well as I did that the city didn't feel like home to me."

Raeger's bright blue eyes regarded her patiently as she spoke, then he nodded and smiled. "I know what you mean. I lived in the city too, with my parents when I was a teenager. I grew up here though, with my grandfather, and never could seem to get used to the noise of the city. The air is healthier here."

Annie smiled back at him as he said pretty much exactly what was on her mind. She was surprised to feel a connection already with this near-stranger. It was the first personal talk she'd had with someone from Oak Tree Town, since Fritz didn't really count. He did all the talking, and Annie listened. But Raeger was such a good listener, not to mention really fun to look at. He was so handsome, and his eyes were so sincere, so blue...

She realized she was staring at him, her mouth open slightly. She snapped it shut. "Uhm," she started not-so-smoothly. "What about you? How did you leave your family, I mean."

Raeger's smile faltered visibly. "It wasn't hard for me to leave. I lost my family. My parents when I was sixteen, and my grandfather two years ago."

Annie's eyes widened. "Oh, I'm so sorry... I can't even imagine..."

He raised a hand to stop her. "It was a long time ago, don't worry about it."

"But it would still feel weird for you, wouldn't it?"

Raeger threw her a sidelong glance. "Yeah, it sucks."

She stopped pressing him, and fiddled with her wrist brace awkwardly as she tried to think of something to say. "Sorry, I don't mean to pry."

His gentle smile returned. "It's alright, I've gotten used to it for the most part. I've got my grandfather's restaurant to keep me busy."

She nodded, still feeling sad for him.

"But I'll have a family of my own someday, and it won't be so bad."

Thoughts of being part of his new family creeped into Annie's mind, but she snapped herself back to reality quickly, feeling embarrassed. She barely knew this man. What was she doing? His attractive appearance and welcoming smile made her do and think weird things.

Raeger sat up, taking the chair back to the table. "Well, I'd better be going. Gotta get things together before the restaurant opens. Will you be alright?"

Standing up with him, Annie replied, "Yes, I'll be fine. Thank you so much. For your help, and for sitting with me."

"You're most welcome." He smiled, then opened the front door to let himself out. He paused.

"Are you busy tonight?"

Annie's heart skipped a beat. Was he going to ask her out? "N-no."

Raeger offered one of his best dapper smiles. "I'm going to the bar at the inn with some friends tonight, after I close up the restaurant around 9:30. Want to come?"

"Sure, that sounds great!" She only felt a little disappointment that it wasn't a date. At least he wanted to see her, and not just to help her with chores. "I'll meet you there?"

"Sounds good." Raeger stepped outside. "See you tonight, Annie!" He said as he shut the door behind him.

The clock on her nightstand read 8:41. Annie had laid out several various possible outfits for her outing tonight, and was unable to decide if wearing her blue waterfall style shirt was too much. She was worried she might dress too differently and stand out among the people who were going to the bar, and she wanted to make a good first impression. She also wanted to impress Raeger, but tried not to admit it to herself. It isn't a date, she reminded herself. Just dress normally.

With one last sweeping glance over the outfit choices, she decided to play it safe. She grabbed her red sweater she'd had on earlier. She stepped in front of the mirror, smoothing her hair down with her left hand. She had put on makeup for the first time in months, and the addition of black eyeliner made her green eyes stand out beautifully. But not to impress Raeger, she had told herself. She just wanted to look nice when meeting the other residents in town.

Annie sighed. It had been so long since she had gone out somewhere with a boy she fancied, even if it wasn't a date. Her last real date had been when she was sixteen, with her boyfriend at the time. She was twenty now. She had never been out drinking, either.

She looked down at her jeans she was wearing, and observed a grass stain wearily. Peeling them off of her legs awkwardly with one hand, she threw them in the dirty pile and instead pulled her black skinny jeans out of her dresser and squeezed into them. One last look in the mirror and she was satisfied. She thought she looked good, but not fancy.

The clock read 8:52 now. It usually took her about 20 minutes to walk to town, and Annie didn't want to arrive before Raeger. He would probably be the only person there she knew, and she wanted to avoid any awkward situations. She settled on her bed to wait a bit, when she heard scratching at the door. The hair on her neck rose. It was quite late, and she was by herself.

"Hello?" Annie called uncertainly. "Who's there?"

She walked quietly and slowly to the door, listening.

Scratch, scratch, scratch. Mrrrrrowr?

Annie let out her breath with a relieved laugh. She opened the door and was greeted by the small orange feline. Mrrreeeowr? He purred, rubbing on her leg. "Hello again, Rusty." Annie welcomed him, scooping him up and cuddling him. She carried him to the fridge where she took some fish pieces out for him.

After Rusty was done gobbling his food, he joined Annie on her bed while she waited to go out. He had fallen asleep in the crook of her bent knee. She looked down, realizing with a jolt that her black jeans were now covered with orange fur.

Groaning, Annie got up, leaving Rusty to her bed and glancing at the clock. 9:05. She went to her dresser in search of a change of pants, but found that everything was dirty. Great.

She walked to the bathroom, looking for anything that could help her, quick - she needed to leave soon. She ran her good hand under water from the tap, and scrubbed at the fur sticking to the material. She only succeeded in removing a small amount, so she rinsed her hand again and returned to scrubbing.

Not only did it not work, her jeans were now quite wet. Genius. She smacked herself mentally.

Annie grabbed for her blow dryer, switching it on high and drying her legs as fast as she could. When she was done, she observed the remaining orange tufts with fury. She rooted through her bathroom cabinet for something -anything at this point - that would help. She got an idea then, and ran to her nightstand. Opening it, she pulled out a roll of duct tape.

She ripped a long piece of the tape off, and proceeded to stick it to her pants repeatedly, and pull it away, removing the fur. It took five pieces of tape before she was satisfied with her appearance. Finally. She checked the time.

9:39.

Damn it. Annie rushed to the door, grabbed her purse and slipped into her shoes. She ran out the door, and began a steady jog to town.

By the time she made it to the inn, it must have been nearing midnight. She groaned inwardly, hoping she wouldn't mess up her chance at a good first impression with Raeger's friends. She approached the inn door, and entered, trying to catch her breath. She located the bar easily, and approached the group of people sitting there.

"-and then I told him I'd had enough. I waited too long to kick his sorry ass out the door! I need a real man." A tall, beautiful blonde girl was perched on the edge of her bar stool, grinning from ear to ear and leaning in close to Raeger, who sat beside her. Several empty shot glasses and cocktails sat on the bar.

Annie felt a strange stab of jealousy at this attractive girl's closeness to Raeger. She shook it off and walked up to the group. "Hey!"

Five pairs of eyes turned to her, only two familiar to Annie. Raeger returned her "Hey!" and she recognized Fritz as he shouted a greeting at her as well. Two other girls, both brunettes, sat with them. The blonde regarded her briefly before turning back to Raeger. "As I was saying-" She began.

"Glad you could make it," Raeger told Annie. "This is Dakoda," He nodded at the blonde girl next to him. "She's from out of town. And this is Agate, and Licorice." The two brunette girls smiled at Annie, said hello, and moved over to allow her a seat between Dakoda and Agate.

Dakoda, looking unimpressed at Raeger's interruption, glanced back to Annie. "Get her a drink. Actually here, take this shot. Tequila." She pushed a shot glass full of pale yellow liquid toward her.

"Thanks." Annie smiled, and watched Raeger's eyes and Dakoda's smirk widen as she put the glass to her lips and drank the contents of it. She immediately felt a strong burning down her throat, and she fought the urge to gag or vomit, she wasn't sure.

"You're supposed to lick salt first." Dakoda laughed loudly at her.

Agate was smiling too, but handed her a lemon wedge. "This'll help."

Annie sunk her teeth into the fruit, sucking the sour juice out. It did help a little, but she felt a bit sick.

"First time drinking?" The other brunette, Licorice, asked her. She had a gentle voice, and seemed friendly.

"Yeah, guess I can't hide that now," Annie answered, smiling sheepishly.

She watched as Raeger licked salt off his hand before taking his shot of tequila, then chomped a lemon wedge. He shook his head slightly. "Yeah, I think that's probably enough alcohol." He laughed, a little louder than Annie had heard him before. He seemed very outgoing tonight.

"Nahh, don't be a lightweight! Come on, Raeger..." Dakoda teased him, still leaning close. Annie gritted her teeth, trying not to be annoyed.

Fritz slapped Raeger on the back. "It's okay to be a lightweight, buddy!" He slurred. Clearly he was a lightweight as well, as there were only three empty shot glasses in front of him, and his speech was off.

"I'm not a lightweight, I just want to be able to walk home without cracking my head off the pavement. Even if it is almost next door." Raeger laughed.

Dakoda brushed her hand along his arm. "Yeah, we don't want you like last time... You could barely keep yourself up without being all over me." Even Fritz was rolling his eyes at her comments.

Annie turned away, facing Agate and Licorice. "So, are there any other drinks I could try?"

"Oh sure, we'll start you off on something a little weaker than tequila," Agate reassured her. "Maurice! A long island iced tea over here."

"Coming right up," came the loud reply from the tall man who was washing a cocktail glass by the sink. Two minutes later, he slid a glass filled with brown liquid and ice cubes to her. She thanked him, then took a sip. It tasted quite good, definitely much better than the shot she had taken.

"I haven't seen you around before, Annie," said Agate. "How long have you been in town?"

She put down her drink. "Just about a week. I'm living on the farm at the other end of the river."

Licorice joined in the conversation. "Oh, right next to Eda's property then. It's good to know that land isn't going to waste. It really is beautiful up there."

Annie agreed, and the three chatted about how she would love Oak Tree Town. They were describing the different vendors that visited town, but she was having difficulty focusing as she could hear Dakoda flirting shamelessly (and drunkenly, Annie assumed) with Raeger. He wasn't exactly flirting back, but he wasn't stopping her either. It was bothering Annie quite a bit, more than she would admit to anyone seated at the bar.

Agate and Licorice noticed her attention faltering, and they looked at Raeger, then back at her. Raeger, back at her.

Do you like him? Agate mouthed to her. Annie shook her head quickly, her eyes wide, and blush creeping across her cheeks. She didn't even want to like him right now. There was no way she was going to confess that she had feelings for him to two near-strangers.

By the time it was nearing 1:00am, Annie was struggling to stifle yawns. She had drank two long island iced teas, and even had a few shots of various things with the group. Everytime Raeger had tried to join in the girls' conversation, though, Dakoda found a way to drag his attention away from Annie. Although she was glad she was meeting more people in town, she had very much wanted to spend time with Raeger this evening.

Raeger stretched his mouth wide in a yawn, at which Dakoda giggled. "Someone's sleepy. Should we get you home? Or rather, us home? My place is so far, I don't think I'm going to leave tonight. I can just come with you, right?" She winked.

"Well I should definitely be heading home, I've gotta get up early. Dakoda, you're staying with Agate tonight, remember?" He was slurring a bit, but Annie was relieved that he didn't seem to want Dakoda spending the night at his place.

Dakoda sniffed. "Fine. You can play hard to get all you want, but we both know where this is going. Agate, come on." She swung her purse over her shoulder and marched to the door, stumbling only slightly. Agate raised an eyebrow at the remainder of the group, then got up and followed.

Raeger didn't watch Dakoda go, but instead turned his attention to Annie. "Sorry, she can be a little bit.." He stifled a yawn. "You know." Annie laughed. She sure could be a little "you know".

She got up from her stool, and felt the world tip. "Whoa.." She gasped, grabbing the stool for balance.

Licorice and Raeger both reached out to steady her. Licorice smiled kindly at her. "We'll get you home, don't worry. Right, Raeger?" She looked pointedly at him.

He looked up. "Oh, yeah. Of course. Let's go, Annie."

Licorice walked around the bar and grabbed Fritz' arm, who was sleeping face down on the bar counter. He awoke, confused, and stumbled after her as Licorice said her goodbyes and made her way out of the bar to go home. She seemed the least drunk out of the group.

Raeger stood up, and visibly grabbed the bar counter, losing his balance as well. Annie giggled at his clumsiness.

"Oh yeah, think it's funny?" He poked her in the ribs playfully, to which Annie's giggle changed to a loud laugh. "You're ticklish?" Raeger dug his fingertips into her side, and she felt tears well up in her eyes as she shrieked with laughter.

Maurice, the bartender, came over. "I'm closing up here, guys," he told them, but not unkindly.

Annie wiped the tears from her eyes and stepped away from the bar. The world swirled deceivingly in front of her. She felt an arm wrap around her waist, and looked over as Raeger pressed his side into hers. For once, there was no embarrassment, just happiness at his closeness. She leaned into him as he helped her walk to the door.

They walked out into the cold night. Annie shivered.

"Here, take my jacket." Raeger took off his dark green jacket and wrapped it around her. He then returned his arm to her waist, and walked with her. They walked up to a colourful-looking restaurant a few doors down, and he struggled with his keys until one fit in the lock.

Annie giggled drunkenly. "I don't live here, silly."

"I do." Raeger grinned at her, his messy hair making him look cute as well as handsome.

Well that sounded fine, then. Annie followed him in. Only then did she realize she should be getting home to go to bed, and this wasn't home. "Well, I'll be going now." She walked to the door.

"Hey, no you're not. You're as drunk as me. It isn't safe." His face looked worried in the most adorably serious way. Well that settled that. She stepped away from the door.

"I stay upstairs, above the restaurant," he explained as he led her up the stairs. They walked into his bedroom, which was quite large, and had a window open. Very cold air was blowing in, and the room's temperature was quite low. "Oh, oops." He closed it.

Annie had her arms wrapped tight to her body, the hair on her arms rising under her sweater and his jacket. Raeger leaned into his closet and pulled out two warm comforters, and threw one on the bed, the other on the floor.

"You can take the bed," he told her.

"Thanks." Annie smiled, her eyes feeling very heavy.

Raeger settled on the carpet as Annie stumbled into the bed and fell in. She wrapped herself up in the thick blanket, her teeth chattering. She heard Raeger moving around, then felt a slight weight at the side of the bed.

"You're drunk." He poked her on the nose. He was leaning his elbows on the mattress, facing her.

Annie giggled. Wow, alcohol made her giggly. And silly. But that just made her giggle more. "So are you, mister!"

He reached forward, grabbing her right hand. He squeezed, and she yelped.

"Oh, shit. Sorry, Annie." Raeger lifted her braced wrist to his lips, and placed a small kiss on her hand. Annie felt like her face was on fire, but she was still smiling at him, not breaking eye contact in the dim room. Her teeth chattered on.

"Are you cold?" He asked her.

She laughed softly through the chattering. "Obviously."

Annie knew Raeger was smiling as he pulled himself clumsily into bed with her. Somewhere deep down, Annie probably knew she should feel embarrassed at being in a man's bed when she barely knew him. But in her drunken state, that thought was way, way far away.

Raeger pulled the comforter over both of them, and nestled in close to her, wrapping his arms around her small frame. She sighed into his chest, feeling the warmth of his body envelope her. The fluttering in her chest felt incredible, and she nuzzled as close to him as she could. She could smell wind, alcohol and a bit of sweat on his shirt. But that was nice too, in a way. It was his scent. He clutched her close to him.

"Better?" Raeger mumbled sleepily.

"Mhmm."

"Goodnight, Annie."

"'Night, Raeger."