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

Save Me From Myself

Chapter Eleven

'Just friends', she groaned silently as her famous last words ran a muck.

Abigail nervously bit the inside of her cheek, throwing Gwen and Ellen a short nod and forced smile. It had been nearly impossible for her to return to sleep after her –

She shook her head, unsure of whether to call it a nightmare or one of the best dreams she's had in a long time. Her eyes lowered to the boutiques tiled pink floor. She could never call it a nightmare,. it had been so... so...

"Hey, are you okay, Abby? You look like you've got something on your mind."

She jumped and stared at Gwen. "N-no! I'm fine." She gave a forced laugh and lightly tapped her temple. "Just trying to remember if I fed Fax before I left this morning. He can be such a grouch when I forget to leave him something to munch on."

Gwen raised her eyebrow, obviously not truly believing the brunette's explanation, but nodded slowly. "Oh. Okay. Well, let's take a seat while we wait for Ellen to get dressed in a sample gown."

"Yeah. Sure."

Even as she tried to distract herself from her dream, it still made itself painfully obvious. She wondered if it had meant anything. It couldn't have, it was just probably her imagination running a muck. It was just because Ellen was getting married, that was it. It had to be that. "Gwen?"

"Hm?"

"Um..." She hesitated. Could she trust Gwen with what was about to leave her mouth? The brunette glanced over at the blond. "Promise me something. What we are about to speak can never be repeated again." Gwen gave her friend a confused look, but Abigail looked seriously at her. "Promise me."

Gwen nodded. "Okay, I promise. What's wrong, Abby?"

"I had..." She voice lowered. "Well, I had a dream last night. It was... strange."

Gwen leaned into the conversation. "Strange? Good strange or bad?"

"I- I don't know? Good, I guess." She answered while shrugging. "It was of a wedding, does it mean anything?"

Gwen cocked her head to the side. "Who was getting married?" Abigail looked away and took a bit too long to answer back. Gwen's mouth formed a perfect 'o' and she leaned back into her seat. "You? Who were you marrying?"

"I don't know. I woke up before I could see his face." She lied, forming the most believable frown. "You were there, in my dream."

"Oh?" Gwen perked up and pushed her chair closer towards the brunette. "Was I now? Was it a double wedding or something? I was remarrying Bob, right?"

Abigail smiled, but shook her head. "No, you were helping me get ready."

Gwen's eyes dropped. "Oh. Well, that still sounds like fun, though."

"But, what does it mean? Or, does it mean anything at all?" Abigail bit the inside of her cheek again. "Or maybe it's just Ellen's wedding that's got me dreaming about things like this? I mean, how could I marry-" She stopped herself before giving too much away.

"Oh, Abby, it's normal! Trust me, every girl has that dream once in their life. It's just a subconscious wish, to be married and live happily ever after. Like in the stories we were told while growing up." Gwen answered as she brushed away invisible dirty from her sample bridesmaid dress.

"So you've had a dream like that? A wedding dream?" She asked in a hushed voice.

Gwen blushed, suddenly finding a hanging picture extremely interesting. "Yeah... Once."

Abigail smiled again and stared at her hands, which were resting on her lap. "Then it doesn't mean I like him."

"I thought you said you didn't see your groom?"

Jamie noted a change in her.

The brunette wasn't acting like she usually did.

She was nervous, quiet, and he hadn't seen her give him a real smile the entire two hours. He didn't like it, but he didn't want her thinking he was actually worried about her, even if it was true. She had only spoken three times, and those responses were short answers. It was late, maybe she was just tired.

She yawned, bringing a hand to hide it from his sight, and it only cemented his hunch.

He glanced around, his animals were already following their daily routine and were shuffling into the barn. As he gave a short nod in approval, he took long strides towards the sitting brunette, who was entertaining herself with his dark coated canine. She gave a quiet giggle as the animal lapped at her hand, obviously smitten by the extensive attention.

Jamie leaned against the purple fence, staring at the scene before him, and he felt strangely at peace. He wasn't contemplating a game plan for the day to come. He wasn't scheming a plan to out do Blue in the upcoming sheep competition. He wasn't doing any of his usual actions after a long days work. No, instead he was watching the brunette play with his traitorous canine and enjoying the sight of a true smile on her lips.

He shook his head and sighed. "I heard you went into town."

The farmer looked up at him, her smile slowly diminished, and nodded. "I did, but... didn't I tell you that too? At the bridge while we watched the fireworks together."

Her voice became a whisper by the time she reached the middle of her second sentence. It was true. She had mentioned it to him, but he had also heard it from a couple of people the entire morning. "How was it?"

She sighed and continued running a hand through the canines head. "It was fun, we spent most of our time at the bridal shop. Ellen's dress is so pretty, simple and so like her. Our dresses are pretty too. They're... very green."

Jamie gave a small smile. "Green?"

"Well, it's not hideous, but it's really green. A pretty pale green, though, none of the neon stuff." She cringed and shook her head. They were silent for a moment before he heard her speak up again. "Jamie?" He stared at her. "Did you – Did you ever really love Nina?"

He stiffened. She looked away from him and hung her head low. He hadn't thought about the pink haired gardener since his rejected proposal. It took him a moment to come to the realization that, no, he had never really loved her. He had only been enticed with the idea of having someone by his side, he had become tired of being alone. She had, unintentionally, filled the void with her random appearances when he was out.

Now that he thought back, they had never spoken much. An occasional greeting, but nothing like what he and the brunette sitting before him shared. He doubted he could handle a long period of time speaking with the pink haired young woman. Whereas her voice was high pitched and shrilly, the brunette's was the opposite, her voice was soft and inviting.

Jamie's attention was redirected away from his thoughts, from his peripheral vision he noticed that she stood from her seat and proceeded to walk away. Jamie acted quickly and grabbed her wrist before she could make it far.

She pulled at her hand and still avoided eye contact.

It bothered him to have her refusing to look at him. He grabbed her chin and raised it, forcing her to look at him. The brunette was blushing, but there was also a gloss in her eyes that didn't sit right with him. In the back of his mind, he wondered how many of the towns people were watching.

Was this going to be the talk of the town tomorrow morning? It was a nagging voice in the back of his head, but he ignored it and actually inched closer, forcing both their faces to come together with only a small gap between them.

"No."

"No?" She echoed back, her blush deepening.

He shook his head. "No."