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

Save Me From Myself

Chapter Five

She flinched away from the purple haired farmer, completely unprepared for him to look like a different person with an angry scowl on his features.

Taking another step away from the farmer, she found herself remembering how Jamie had something similar to the look he was forcing her to endure when she first moved into the calm village. A warning voice in the back of her mind was screaming at her to leave, flee to somewhere safer, but she pushed the thought aside and frowned softly at the male before her.

'Because he could', she mentally scoffed at the response. That wasn't a typical answer from the well vocalized man.

With a third step back, she trained her eyes onto him and inwardly sighed with relief when the icy glare faltered. If only slightly.

As she prepared herself to speak, she was instantly hushed by when the cold stare he was throwing at her intensified without warning.

Jamie tensed, but his glare lessened as he turned away from the brunette, "Go away. Have fun on your... date."

There was a harsh taste in his mouth as the word left his mouth. Silently grinding his teeth, Jamie wondered why it had suddenly becoming so hard to say and think of such a simple word without getting worked up.

Pushing aside his thoughts for the moment, he watched from his peripheral vision as her shoulders slumped forward and as she took a timid step towards him.

"But –"

"Leave."

There was a brief gap of silence before an odd sound emitted from under her breath. The temptation to turn outweighed his unexpected anger and when he turned, he inwardly cringed when she pulled farther away from him.

Brown eyes landed on him only for a moment before they glued themselves to the dirt. "Why are you being so cold? Is it the thing with Kurt? Because I – "

"Humph."

Jamie's fists balled as he broke down her statement. She called it a thing, like it was something insignificant, but he knew better. There was only one reason why someone would agree to go on a date with another person and it wasn't something that was to be taken lightly.

A frown marred her face, "It is, isn't it."

"Of course not," Jamie spat with narrowed eyes.

"Then why are you so upset? All I said was that I – "

"Enough!"

"But – "

Jamie had reached his breaking point, with a dark glare he loomed over the shorter farmer and mustered the best threatening tone he would pull together. "Leave. Now. You are trespassing on my property."

"Are you enjoying yourself?"

Abigail glanced at the stoic carpenter and nodded stiffly. She felt horrible for lying to him, but how could she be having fun when the disgusting feeling at the pit of her stomach felt like it was swelling. The fact that Jamie had all but run her out of his farm wasn't helping the sickening feeling either.

Trespassing on his property. It was what he had hissed at her as she fled from the purpled haired farmer's wrath. A cold shiver enveloped her form, but it wasn't from the cool air. No, it was from remembering how distant Jamie's attitude had turned towards her after she told him about the date with Kurt. The only other time she had seen that same look on him was when the sprites has asked for her help to resurrect the Harvest Goddess.

It had taken her almost an entire year and a half to get into his good graces after that. Goddess only knows how long it was going to take her this time.

She forced a smile when Kurt turned towards her and only allowed herself to frown once his attention was away from her. Silencing a sigh, she watched as her companion dropped a bamboo boat into the stream and wondered by the purple haired farmer had taken the news so badly. And badly was putting it mildly.

It wasn't as if this was the first time she was going out on a date. He had seen her plenty of times celebrating festivals with the other villagers, so what made this one different?

"Here," she heard Kurt say. Brushing aside her troubling thoughts, she mumbled her thanks as Kurt placed a similar bamboo boat into her grasp. "Don't forget to make a wish."

Nodding, she stepped towards the bank and knelt.

'A wish,' she thought for a brief second before allowing a sigh to escape her parted lips and dropped the boat gently into the water, watching as it sailed away. Kurt was at her side before she realized he hand moved with a hand held out to help her stand. A second quiet thanks left her mouth as she took the offered hand and brushed away the few patched of dirt clinging to her dress.

Kurt chuckled, "What did you wish for?"

Glancing at Kurt, she noticed that he was still holding her hand in his and casually pulled it from his grasp. Shrugging, she returned her gaze to the dirt pathway and shook her head softly. "I'd rather not say."

There was a sound of understanding that came from the male at her side. Her eyes quickly made their way back to the brunet and caught the signs of a growing blush on his cheeks. A gaping moment of silence, awkward in her mind, before Kurt scratched the back of his head as he cleared his throat.

"Well, I guess it's time to head on home." Abigail nodded at the statement and turned to leave but was stopped as Kurt continued to say, "Would you mind if I walked you home?"

"No," she started slowly, forcing yet another smile on her lips, "I wouldn't mind."

Kurt nodded and she silently followed along side him as they made their way towards the ocean side.

Elsewhere, Jamie was becoming angrier by the minutes and he still found himself unable to understand why it had bothered him to much. Among the list of things he was upset at were the brunette farmer, that carpenter, and himself.

Her for accepting the invitation. Him for being around her. And himself for possibly destroying what little common ground his former rival and he held.

Try as Jamie might, he still couldn't understand. It had felt as though his carefully guarded world had slowly begun to unravel around him when she told him about the date. But why? Why had he felt as if his heart had dropped to the pit of his stomach. It had stung when Nina rejected his proposal, but he couldn't remember it hurting like this. Had it been the way she had said it? So nonchalant, as if it weren't anything to be worried about when it fact it was!

… It was, wasn't it?

Maybe not to her, but to him –

Wait. Why was it important to him?

Jamie shouldn't have cared. It was her life after all, and yet... there was no amount of denial in the world that could have kept him from admitting that he did care. More than he was silently willing to acknowledge. But why?

On thing was for sure, he would have to go and apolo –

He flinched and gritted his teeth as the thought abruptly halted, but he forced himself to continue the thought. Jamie would go to her home, right this second, and tell her he was sor –

Mentally chocking on the word once again, he glared at the ground venomously. Jamie knew subconsciously what he had to do, there was no need to spell it out. In the back of his mind, however, he had considered spying on the pair. Where the thought had come from, he would never be able to explain, but just the mere thought of doing so made him feel childish. He could never see himself stoop so low, to such a deplorable level. Spying seemed to be more of what Katie excelled on and Jamie wasn't in any rush at being compared to the waitress.

It had been a little over an hour since his quarrel with the brunette farmer and he wondered if she was home already. Wondered If her date with that second-rate carpenter was over already. Jamie tensed as the sudden onslaught of 'what if' situations began pouring into his head. What if they had decided to stay out late? What if she was having the best time of her life with him.

That last thought along caused a scowl to appear on his face.

Shaking his head, Jamie heard his pet whine underneath the oak table. As the canine stretched lazily on the floor, an idea stuck Jamie. The dark coated dog yawned and threw its owner a curious look. A smirk stretched across his face as he crouched in front of his ever loyal canine.

"I think you could use a walk."

Abigail had hoped that Kurt and she would have parted way before reaching her home, but Kurt had other plans. He had walked her all the way to her front door and was currently hovering before her with a nervous smile. She mimicked the smile, "Thank you Kurt. You didn't have to walk me all the way here, though."

He shrugged as an attempt to keep the conversation going, "I don't mind. I had fun."

"So did I," she found herself automatically responding.

Kurt smirked, "We should do this again sometime."

The farmer froze at the words and stared at the carpenter. He looked absolutely serious and she nodded in agreement, trying to sound as enthusiastic as possible as she said: "... Again. Yeah. W-we should."

A mimicked nod was her immediate response. "Great. Well, goodnight."

A murmured farewell left her lips as she watched Kurt smile one last time at her before silently slipping away into the darkness. Once she was sure he was gone and completely alone, she sighed out loud as she leaned against her locked door. What a tiresome experience, pretending to be happy seemed to be more trouble than watering her own plants. A second sight escaped her parted lips as she rubbed her heavy eyes.

A growl from her right caused her to glance towards the sound. Her eyes widened slightly when she found Jamie standing at the edge of her property, his dog sniffing at her garden. A smile tried to make itself present on her face, but she forced herself to remain stoic. Another growl was emitted by the small black and beige animal at his side and Jamie, who was taking strives towards her, hushed the canine.

Wrapping a loose arm around her waist, she gave into temptation and gave him a small smile when he was a little less than a foot away. "Evening, stranger."

Jamie grunted and watched out of the corner of his eye as his dog roamed the brunette's property. His azure eyes made their way back to her and he clenched his jaw. She still kept smiling at him, even after he had been so hostile towards her less than two hours ago. He would have expected her to at least be a bit put off by his actions, but here she was... smiling at him.

It was obvious just how considerably different from the rest of the town. Had it been anyone else he snapped at there would have been no attempt at redeeming any sort of common ground. Not from the person receiving the end of his rage, and certainly not from Jamie.

But he tensed and cleared his throat, "I – "

"It's fine," she whispered softly. "Really. It means enough to me that you're here."

Her smile only seemed to grow as she stood before him and the heavy feeling at the pit of his stomach lessened. Only when she turned away from him did he allow a small smirk play across his lips, "What makes you think you knew what I was going to say?"

The smirk disappeared when she cocked her head his direction and laughed quietly. "Well. I guess I didn't. But could we pretend that we said what needed to be said and leave it at that?"

Jamie took in the look of hope etched across her face and nodded cautiously.

She grinned and clapped her hands together, "Great!"

Huffing under his breath, he called his pet back and tipped his head in farewell.

"Oh wait," she murmured as she took a step towards him. "I was wondering. What are you doing tomorrow?"

Jamie gave an uncharacteristically shrug, "What I usually do."

"Oh."

He shifted uncomfortably at the sight of her disappointed look, "Why?"

"Well. Tomorrow is Gwen's birthday and Bob, Ellen, and I have been planning a small surprise birthday party for her." The brunette must have taken note of the uninterested look on his face because she jumped right back into her explanation with a more animated look. "I was just wondering if you'd like to come with me."

Jamie glanced away.

"It'll be fun, I promise, and not that many people will be there. It's just going to be Gwen and Bob. Carl and Ellen. You and me, and it probably won't last long. Maybe an hour, or an hour and a half, tops."

"I don't think so..."

"Oh, come on, Jamie! It'll be fun. There will be cake."

Even if Jamie tried, he couldn't hinder the smirk from making its way onto his face. Was she honestly bribing him with cake. Shaking his head, he sighed out, "No."

A frown formed on her features and she positioned her hands on either side of her hips, "Why not?"

An unexpected thought lurched into Jamie's mind, but he brushed it aside and resisted the urge to run a hand over his face. "First off, I have not reason of being there. Second off, I was not invited. And lastly, I have too much to do."

"Well, you're wrong," was her brilliant response. "I'm inviting you, and my invitation does count because I've done a third of the party planning. Also, I have tons of things to do too, but I've found a way to get an hour in for friends."

A sigh escaped his lips, "I don't think so."

And then she looked up at him, stated into his azure eyes, and said: "Please. For me?"