Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon or its characters. This story was only written for entertainment purposes.

Save Me From Myself

Chapter Two

The brunette farmer frowned as the chatter in town buzzed even louder.

This morning topic was centered directly around her former rivals embarrassment and it irked her to no end. As she shifted in her chair, she couldn't help but wonder how the news had spread so quickly. Nina couldn't have been so cruel. But then again, she hadn't spent that much time getting to know the pink haired gardener.

Truth be told, the farmer never really made much of an effort to get to know her. Nina was just too peppy, not that being peppy was a bad thing, but it was just a little to much for her liking. Similar to Joe. Goddess, now there was a ball of energy she had no problem avoiding like the plague.

With a shake of her head, she watched as Alex moved around his office, nodding to himself as he read something off his chart. Martha returned to the young farmers side, a pleasant smile on her face, and instructed her to follow behind.

"How are you feeling today?" Martha asked.

She shrugged, "Same as always, I guess."

"Good, good." Martha said underneath a heavy sighed, "I'm much more worried about Jamie. Such a terrible ordeal he went through."

She frown deepened, but the farmer pretended not to know what Martha was talking about. "What do you mean?"

Martha's eyes seemed to grow wider as she turned her attention back to the young female. "Oh my! You mean you haven't heard?" The farmer shook her head as Martha played with the hem of her apron. "Well, I'm not so much into gossip, but... Katie came by earlier this morning, that girl always knows what's going on in town, and told me about how Jamie proposed to Nina."

"Really..." was all the brunette was able mumbled as a scowl making itself present on her face. 'So that's how everyone found out.' A sound of pure irritation escaped her lips and she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Katie has such a big mouth. She should keep to her own business."

"Now, now. I'm sure Nina knew what she was doing when she told Katie." Martha chimed in, defeating the bubbly waitress.

As much as she hated admiring it, Martha was telling the truth. Katie was known for being unable to keep even the simplest of secrets under wraps, which was why everyone in town knew that the brunette farmer still slept with a stuffed animal. Telling Katie anything was essentially the same as calling the town together in the square and proclaiming one's deepest, darkest secrets without abandonment.

But before the conversation could continue any further between the women, Alex cleared his throat and looked at the farmer with a pointed look.

"Well, it seems like you are in perfect health, but please do not wait two years in the between check ups. It isn't healthy for you." he scolded softly. The brunette sighed, but nodded in agreement. Sometimes Alex sounded more like her father than her friend. With a pleasant smile, Alex nodded, "Good. Then I will see you in the fall then."

"Alright. Thanks, Alex."

With murmured exchanges of goodbye, she stood from her seat and headed out the door, fully intending to make use of the beautiful day.

Jamie silently ignored the stares he was receiving as he stiffly continued with his morning routine. It was obvious that his dirty little secret had been exposed. How, when, where, or why didn't matter for the moment, he was more interesting in who had ratted him out.

Another set of soft whispering behind his back, obviously feminine murmurs, cause his spine to tense. With a short glance over his shoulder, he sneered at the two women as they openly gossiped and gawked at him, as if he were some exotic attraction. As Katie and Eve laughed and continued their way down the path Jamie could only think about how humiliating it was being the butt of their entertainment.

"Oh! Hi!" came a high voice abruptly.

"You're so nosy, Katie!"

"W-WHAT!"

At the flabbergasted tone, Jamie stepped away from his farm animals and looked over at the cluster of women. Katie flipped her honey brown hair over her shoulder and glared at the brunette farmer.

"How rude, Abigail!"

Abigail shook her head and pointed an accusing finger at the waitress, "No. You are rude! How can you be so heartless and blab about something so private!" Jamie watched as she crossed her arms in front of her chest and continued her rant with an unexpected icy glare. "What if that had happened to you? Hmm? Rejection is not something anyone wants to experience, let alone have the experience exposed to the entire town."

The usually outgoing waitress suddenly became quiet. Her face colored a tint of red as she mimicked his former rivals stance with her own arms crossed below her breasts and huffed. She suddenly stuck her nose in the air and shrugged her shoulders. "Whatever. We are leaving."

Jamie exhaled deeply and wiped the sweat off his brow as he watched Katie and Eve escaped Abigail's wrath. The brunette, meanwhile, stood motionless and kept her eyes glued to both women. As soon as the gossip box was well away, Abigail sighed loudly in frustration and kicked at the dirt road.

Tipping his large sombrero down, Jamie hid the smirk playing on his lips. It was odd, seeing the usually friendly farmer angry about something. It was also strange to see her so upset over something that shouldn't have been that much of a concern to her.

"Jamie!"

Any traces of a smirk disappeared quickly as her voice reached his ears and a mask of apathy slowly ebbed its way onto his face as he glanced up to watch the brunette run up to him. She looked like her usual kind self, almost as if the spat with Katie had never happened at all, and she smiled at him. He fought off the urge to make his usual 'humph' sound or run her out and returned the smile, or at least tried. But his smile was empty, still hurting from last nights rejection and this mornings whispers.

"What." Jamie's tone had come out harsher then he had intended it to be and her smile dropped slightly, but the happiness still radiated off of her in waves.

"How are you?"

Jamie shrugged, not sure of what there was to say about the topic. The entire town now knew about the incident, thanks to the blabber mouth that was Katie, and he was going to move on with his life.

The sudden feeling of being watched, and not just by the female before him, pricked at the purple haired farmers back. It was coming from a completely different direction. Cocking his head to the side, Jamie caught sight of the blond haired farmer and his raven haired helper casting them occasional glances. He frowned and moved away from the purple barricade that kept his animal enclosed, brushing off the dirt from his clothes.

"I have to get back to work," he mumbled.

"Oh," was his immediate response. Looking away from the males, he glanced down at the female in front of him and watched as she nodded at him. "Of course."

As he took another step away, Abigail held her hand up and signaled for Jamie to wait a moment. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out a jar and extended it towards the purple haired farmer. The jar was filled with a purple substance. Blueberry Jam.

"Here you go!" she cheerfully exclaimed, stuffing the gift into his hands and smiling brightly. "I'll see you later."

Before he could mutter a thanks, she was gone. Running down the dirt path and disappearing from sight as she turned towards the clinic.

The day ended with only one topic on everyones lips and it annoyed Abigail. While she loved living in the small town, there were also those few drawbacks to living in such a small place.

For one, the only form of major entertainment seemed to be everyone else's lives. Every flaw and mistake was help up to be examined by others, and usually behind each others back and with a fake smile plastered on their faces in front of those being criticized.

Although she questioned her decision on staring in Flower Bud every now and then, she could never deny that moving here had helped her, immensely. She was no longer thinking like that immature eighteen-year-old who had first stepped through the town, now she was mature. She also had serious friendships here, and that wasn't something that could be easily achieved in the city.

City folks were always looking for connections, if they couldn't gain something for themselves then there wasn't a reason to be friends. Acquaintances, sure. One of those could come in handy some day down the road, but nothing more than that.

Lately, however, even those friendships were proving to be not enough to keep her mind from questioning her reasons for sticking around. Gwen was married, so there was usually no real time to catch up with girl talk. Sure, there were those rare moments at festivals, but most of the time her and Bob were glued to the hip. It wasn't like before.

Even Ellen was obviously busy with her own blooming relationship, whether she wanted to freely admit said relationship or not. Far and between were the times they could sit together and gossip quietly or even improve her questionable cooking abilities. When she wasn't baking sweet with and/or for Carl, or vice versa, she was helping Blue or Hark with the animals and shop. It wouldn't be a surprise the brunette farmer to hear that the marriage bug was making its round and bit Ellen, maybe very soon, and then she'd truly be alone.

A small whine emitted from the beige dog on her lap and she sighed quietly as she stared down at her pet with a smile. "Well, maybe not completely alone, right boy?"

Her companion barked and cuddled its head against her stomach.

She giggled and ran a free hand through its fur. 'But still,' she thought with a frown and rested her elbow against the chairs armrest, laying her cheek in her palm. 'Maybe it's time for a change of scenery?'