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

Save Me From Myself

Chapter Three

It was a week after the scandal and things seemed to have slowed down. Everything was seemingly back to normal, although there were those rare moment in which small talk usually managed to snake its way to the unfortunate rejection. All in all, however, the topic of Jamie and Nina faded, much to Abigail's delight.

As the brunette farmer wiped the sweat from her brow, she smiled at her hard work. It was the fifth day of Summer and her plants were beginning to bloom beautifully. While a majority of her crops consisted of pinkcat flowers, Liz had managed to persuade her into planting tomatoes and cocoa. She had no real use for both crops, but they could bring in a bit of extra cash, which she needed since her decision to fiddle with the idea of moving.

No matter how much she loved living a simple and tranquil life in Flower Bud, she couldn't help but feel like something was missing. Could it be the lack of excitement? No. It wasn't just that. If she wanted a jolt of excitement she could always compete in the festivals. After all, Blue and Jamie always seemed to have a great time trying to out do the other.

It couldn't be that. Something else was missing. Something she couldn't attach a name to yet, but it was making itself much more obvious as the days progressed in the sleepy atmosphere that was Flower Bud.

With a heavy sigh, she watered the last batch of pink flowers displayed before her. It was then than a thought suddenly struck her, it was already ten in the morning and she had yet to see a single person walk by.

Was today a festival?

Couldn't be. The brunette always checked her calendar before stepping out of her home in the morning. The sky was clear, free of dark clouds and a slight breeze moving through the town, and the summer heat was beginning to make itself present with the suns strong rays beating against the land. Was it possible that the heat itself was the reason why the town seemed to be working at a much slower pace? Possibly, but doubtful.

Abigail refilled her watering can and headed indoors, the quiet of the town made it seem eerier than it ever could be at night. Depositing the watering can into her pale green chest, she rummaged around for her brush and smiled as her loyal companion whined for his daily brushing.

"I know, I know." She cooed while she patted the canine once and pulled out what she was looking for. Fax barked and happily wagged his tail as his master began brushing his beige coat.

There was suddenly a knock at her door.

Giving the canine one last brush, she patted him again and dropped the brush into the still opened chest before making her way towards the door. Looking herself over in a nearby mirror, she ran a hand through her hair and brushed away the dirt and sweat from her face. As she opened the door, she was pleasantly surprised to see the purple haired farmer standing before her.

She smiled and eagerly widened the door to let him pass. Not surprisingly, he entered in complete silently and averting eye contact. Before the brunette closed the door behind her guest, she glanced out and frowned when she found that the town still seemed to be empty.

Shrugging, she closed the door and turned to find the blue eyed male sitting at her table. Fiddling with the idea of offering him some herb tea, she quickly squashed the thought after remembering how he had looked down at her offering.

She shook her head and the smile returned to her face. "Long time to see, Jamie. How have you been?"

It was his turn to shrug.

Abigail merely nodded at the action as she walked into the kitchen. Lingering at the fridge a bit longer than necessary, she looked back at Jamie. "Do you want something? A drink? Or maybe a sweet? Ellen taught me how to make a delicious Honey Cake."

Jamie couldn't help but notice the enthusiasm in her voice, however, he shook his head, "No. Nothing. ...Maybe some other time." He added quietly when he witnessed how her joyful expression diminished.

She nodded and took a seat across from him. A moment or two of silence settled between the two farmers before she spoke again. "So..."

He watched her intently as she tried to start off a simple conversation. It had been an entire week since he last heard a peep from the farmer before him. It shouldn't have struck him as odd, she was probably busy with whatever it was she spent her time doing. Even now, she looked like she'd just finished some gardening, her clothing were covered in dirt and splashed with water. She wore a healthy light tan, typical for farm workers, and her hair had been pulled up. But not in those usual pigtails, however. Instead, her hair was all pulled into a messy bun held high with a blue clip. It made her look different, but in a good way.

A nervous chuckle came from the farmer across from him, "Stop staring so hard. You're kind of freaking me out."

Jamie was brought out of his daze by her words. Was he staring? His eyes drifted away from the female and landed on her mutt laying about a foot away from the table. "Does it?"

There was yet another moment of silence and Jamie mulled over why he came to her home in the first place. But his thoughts were interrupted when she changed the subject. "You weren't at the beach festival."

Jamie frowned, "No. I wasn't."

A third moment of silence ate away at their time, and there frequent silences were beginning to annoy the stoic farmer.

"...How come?"

"I didn't feel like going."

Jamie glared at the mutt, silently cursing the brunette and her awkward silences, when he hear her shuffle in her seat. "...Kurt won."

'Kurt.' Jamie would have scoffed if he was alone, but seeing as he had someone else in his presence her refrained himself. The carpenter was not the necessarily the person Jamie would have guessed to win the competition. "Did he now."

"Yep," she drawled with a light sight. "Blue came in close second. And then Alex... Actually, I'm pretty surprised he even agreed to participate. All he was doing before the competition started was ranting off reason why it wouldn't be a good idea for him to be in it. It was funny."

He waited for the soft giggles coming from the woman before him to settled before asking, "You didn't place?"

"I didn't participate."

His eyes snapped towards the brunette, "What?"

"I. Didn't. Participate?" she repeated, a bemused expression etched into her face.

At the response, Jamie narrowed his eyes, "Why not? You could have easily beaten all of them. I've seen you swim," bitterly adding, "you even beat me one summer."

The confusion on her face melted and an unexpected playful smirk tugged at her lips as she shrugged nonchalantly. "Guess I didn't feel like it."

Jamie's lip twitched, itching to mimicking the smirk on her face but refraining from doing so. The brunette had used his own words against him and instead of feeling angry at being given the runaround, he felt amused. "Then Kurt had no real challenge. You and I weren't in the contest, so therefore, that little festival doesn't really count."

"Oh really?" A genuine smile replaced the uncharacteristic smirk as she rested an elbow against the oak table, laying her chin onto the palm, before cocking her head to the side. "You think you and me could have totally beaten those guys?"

Jamie could feel the haughty expression on his features, "Of course."

She laughed quietly and shook her head in disbelief for a moment, "Whatever you say, Jamie."

The pleasant conversation dwindled into a comfortable silence, one that Jamie found himself enjoying rather than feel annoyed by the lack of time used. Her pet suddenly yawed and Jamie took note of the small smile on her face. Did she always smile at the smallest things? She always seemed to be smiling, and it fit her perfectly. Why hadn't he taken notice before? Better yet, why was he noticing now.

Brown orbs abruptly jumped back at him, "The Star Festival is coming up."

Abigail noted how he tensed and instantly regretted the bad choice of subject.

He looked away and shrugged, "So it is."

"...What are you planning on doing?" she whispered while pulling her hands onto her lap and watched him cautiously.

The icy glare thrown at her was all the answer she needed, but Jamie voiced it nonetheless, "Nothing."

The tone of his voice was cold and detached. The glimmer of calmness that filled his eyes not more than ten seconds ago was completely gone, replaced with a blank expression. Cold and calculating azure eyes watched her, almost daring her to try and bring them back to life.

Jamie scared her at the moment, so she quickly decided on a new topic.

"...I've been thinking about moving."