A/N: And here is Chapter 3! I honestly was really busy with my other stories for a while and wasn't really focused on updating this one, but then I went away for a week. I didn't have Internet, so really the only thing I could do was type! So that's what I did!

This chapter is slightly longer than the 2nd one. It's not as, like, 'bloody' dramatic as the last one. It's a lot more, I don't know, calm? Anyways, I hope you guys like it just as much as you (hopefully) liked the last one.

Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed! And thank you to Clairabelle, Harvest Loon, and Fox for giving me ideas for Bo's past. In the end, though, I had to choose Fox's idea. Sorry! I loved all of the ideas! But I decided to use an idea that didn't involve his parents dying. Sorry, but when you think about it, it doesn't really fit. Dale doesn't really act like a father towards Bo in the game. I think if Bo's parents were dead, Dale would probably act more fatherly to him. So that's why I went with Fox's idea. Plus, I just really liked it :)

So here is chapter 3! I hope you all like it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon: Animal Parade. I also don't own the chapter title 'Midnight Confessions', because I think it was a chapter title from a manga called +Anima. But the game Luke made up, also called Midnight Confessions, that's all mine.

Chapter 3: Midnight Confessions

We were all sitting around the dim light of the crackling fire, not talking. It had been about ten minutes since my little meltdown. I had felt so stupid, breaking down like that. I was supposed to be the strong one in this situation. The survivalist. Now I had proven to the four boys that I was still weak. Which means, I had thought, they would probably be trying to baby me, or something, now. Great.

But it didn't really happen like that. Instead, the guys had whispered words of comfort to me, and I managed to calm down pretty quickly. Bo and Owen had promised me that we would get out of this mess, no sweat. Luke wouldn't stop chatting, probably trying to take my mind off things. And Chase, well, Chase didn't really say anything. He just sort of sat in the background, as still as possible. If I didn't know him any better, I would have thought he even looked a little guilty.

So, ten minutes later, we were hushed into complete silence, all staring quietly into the fire. Even Luke, the one who had been nicknamed "Chatter-Box" by Chase, was staying silent. I guess near-death situations can do that to a guy.

I was lost in thought. I still felt like an idiot for breaking down like that, but at least they hadn't really said anything about it. Maybe they would forget it happened. That would be nice.

I was suddenly staring to feel lonely when a thought struck me. Or, rather, just a single word struck me: Finn. My heart ached when I thought about him, probably asleep in the bed I longed to be in right now, and unaware I was in this mess. I had never been away from him this long before since I had met him. I was worried about the little Harvest Sprite. I wondered if he was worried about me.

I lifted my head vaguely as my eyes scanned my fellow "cave-dwellers". Owen wasn't looking too good: the bandage wrapped around his leg was become stained with blood. He was swaying slightly, even when propped up against the wall, and his eyes looked blood-shot.

Bo looked like he was on the verge of a panic attack. The freckled twelve-year-old's eyes were darting this way and that, and he wouldn't stop squirming.

Luke was just sitting there, displaying no emotion on his face, staring into the fire. Occasionally he would shift slightly, or reach up to pick at that old Band-Aid on his nose, adjust his axe in his belt loop, but that was really about it.

And, Chase…

…was holding my hand.

Yeah, you heard right. Ever since I had calmed down and we had taken our seats around the fire, he had sat down next to me and placed his hand over my gloved one on the ground. I was surprised, just as I had been the first time he held my hand today, but didn't say anything. If the other guys could see our intertwined hands right now, they didn't say anything either, which I was grateful of. Just like before, Chase wasn't even looking at me. He was just looking into the fire a rather bored look on his face, as usual. His apron was still lying on the ground, ripped and dirty, so he still only had that button-down shirt on and jeans. In my opinion, he should take the apron off more often. In fact, the only thing ruining his stunning look were those bandages wrapped around his head. Stupid bandages.

Finally, the one who always seemed to break the silence broke it. "Is anyone hungry? We brought lots of food! And if we run out of water I think there's a spring somewhere deeper in the cave. Can't you hear it? I can. So just eat up and-"

"Luke." Bo had to put a hand on his friend's shoulder to shut him up. "I don't think anyone's hungry."

Luke's eyes sank to the floor. "Oh. Ok."

I felt a little sorry for Luke for being singled out again as "Chatter-Box", so I decided it was high-time I started talking, too. "So, does anyone know how the heck we got into this mess?"

All eyes turned towards me again. They were probably just surprised I was suddenly in the mood for talking. I rubbed my hurt elbow, suddenly embarrassed. Well, whatever.

Luke looked thoughtful. "Well… didn't you want to go to bed at, like, 9 o'clock or something? Then we came and told you about the cave, but you didn't want to go, so we told you Chase was-"

I cut him off with a glare before he could get to the next part. "After that. I mean how did we get stuck in here? It couldn't just have been a random avalanche."

Owen, being the expert on caves, answered my question. "No, it was defiantly some kind of explosion. Natural or unnatural, I'm not sure."

Bo was shaking. "B-but what about that cackling sound before the explosion?"

"It sounded so familiar… but I can't think of where it's from…" Luke said with a far-off voice.

I guess no one had an answer, because we were all quiet for some time again.

A great thought then struck me, and I instantly wondered why I hadn't thought of it before. "Hey, Hey! Does anyone here have a cell phone? I don't know if we'd get any reception here, but it's worth a shot!"

But I just got a combination of blank looks and sad looks in response, so I guess the answer to my question is no, no one here has a cell phone. I sighed. "I had one before I came here, but they said the island was so low-tech I wouldn't need one. I mean, there aren't even any cars here!"

Owen nodded. "Yeah, I was too young to have one before I moved here, so my parents offered to give me one, but then they heard that virtually no one on the island had one so-."

Bo spoke up. "I was too little to have a cell phone when I came… but I remember all my older siblings had them."

"Yeah, I was too little to have one, too…" Chase spoke for the first time, making me jump. Even when I was holding his hand, I nearly forgot he was there.

We all expected Luke to say something on the matter next, but there was just a blank look on his face. Then he said, "What the heck is a cell phone?"

We all started laughing. We couldn't help it! Even Chase was snickering.

Luke put his hands on his hips, again. "You can't blame me! I've never left the island! Now someone pleeeaaase tell me what it is!"

I think Owen explained it to him, but I was too distracted by a new thought to listen. The thought: everyone but Luke here hasn't lived on the island their whole life, and I didn't know anything about their lives before they moved here! Or even after they moved here, really. I practically knew nothing about their past. Now, I'm not as impatient as Luke, but I am not a huge fan of not knowing things. I like to know things! I wanted to know about the guys' childhoods, as stalker-ish as that sounds.

But I took a breath and told myself to be patient, knowing the time to reveal them would come soon. I hope.

After we had settled down again, Luke started talking, but not about cell phones. "Hey, Elana?"

"Yeah?"

"Aren't you tired? You were tired at 9, and now it's," he checked his watch, "almost 11."

I shrugged. "Yeah, I'm tired, but I don't want to go to bed. Besides, near-death experiences really wake you up."

Chase turned to face me, finally. "Why don't you want to go to bed?"

The answer came out of my mouth before I had time to think it over. "Because, I am not going to sleep while stuck in a cave with 4 guys. Unless there's some danger-free, secluded, comfy, boy-free corner I can crawl into and sleep, I'm not closing my eyes for a second."

Everyone's eyebrows shot up and I heard Luke muffle a snicker.

"You don't trust us?" Owen asked with a playful tone.

"Nope." That was my immediate answer.

Luke had finally controlled his snickering and a thoughtful face replaced it. "Ok, if does anyone else want to sleep? Owen, Chase, you guys are hurt, and Bo looks like he's about to have a seizure, so-"

Chase's eyes narrowed. "And leave you alone with Elana? No freaking way."

Matching blushes exploded onto Luke's face and my face.

Owen let out a hearty laugh. "I guess that means we're all staying up!"

I shook away the blush and turned to the redhead. "Are you sure, Owen? You don't look so good, maybe you could use some rest."

But that confident smile was enough to convince me. "Nah, I'm ok. I'll go to sleep when everyone else does."

I shrugged. "Suit yourself."

Luke, who had just stopped glaring at Chase, spoke up. "Ok, we need to play a game!"

"A game?" Chase raised an eyebrow.

"Uh-huh! A game! I'm thinking maybe truth or dare?"

"No." I said immediately. I didn't even know guys played truth or dare! "It'd be awkward, considering I'm the only girl here."

"Fair enough…" Luke thought for a second. Then, as we watched, his thoughtful face turned into an evil grin, and his hazel, cat-like eyes flickered in the firelight. "I know a game we could play."

The Garmon Guys all groaned, knowing that look on his face all-too-well.

"W-what's the game, Luke?" Bo asked timidly.

The carpenter sat up a little straighter and crossed his arms over his chest triumphantly. "It's called Midnight Confessions! And I just made it up!"

I saw Chase roll his eyes. "Of course you did. And I thought you just said it was only 11 o'clock? So why Midnight?"

Luke pointed a menacing finger in Chase's direction. "Quiet, you!"

I giggled. Chase groaned. Yet his grip never slackened on my hand.

Luke cleared his throat. "Let me explain. Ok, well you know how at sleepovers sometimes when it gets really late some people just start pouring out all their secrets and confessions to some random person they don't even know very well?"

Once again, another thing I thought boys did not do at sleepovers.

Luke didn't wait for an answer. "Well that's what it is! We just take turns telling everyone about our pasts and our family and all that other crap! I thought of it when we were talking about cell phones." He looked proud of himself.

My eyes grew wide. This was what I had been waiting for! I had never wanted to hug Luke this bad before! Well, I guess I've never wanted to hug Luke, but still! I needed to get the other guys to play.

"I'm in." I said bravely. The Owen, Bo, and Chase looked surprised at my sudden interest. "I-it sounds fun! A good way to pass the time, yeah know?" Please play, please play, please plea-

"Yeah, I'm in, too." Owen said. "This should be interesting."

"O-ok. If you guys are playing…" Bo stammered.

Finally, Chase sighed. "Fine. I'll play your stupid game. But don't think I'm going to start pouring out all my emotions and start, like, crying or something. We'll leave that to Bo."

"Hey!" Bo exclaimed, but Chase ignored him.

I was beaming. "Ok, Luke, you start!"

Luke had a blank look on his face for a second. "Hmm… ok… well, since I've never played before, let's see how this goes."

"We can add things occasionally," I suggested, "like ask questions or something. You know, to help you along?"

He looked so happy because I was actually getting into this. "Yeah! If I'm stuck, ask questions!"

He took a deep breath. "Ok, here I go!"

"My name is Luke. I'm 14. I've lived in Garmon Mine my entire life. My dad is Dale, the carpenter. I- I had a mom, too." He paused, a far-away look suddenly plastered onto his face. A pang of sympathy hit me when I realized what he was going to say. "She was kind of a prankster, like me, I guess. She was awesome. Really funny, and nice, and, I dunno, stuff. But when I was 8 I got into a fight with my dad. I-I got upset or something so I ran off." He paused, probably thinking about what happened next. I felt bad. I knew what was coming. "Normally when I run off I hide in Fugue Forest, but I didn't want anyone to find me that day. So I hid," he suddenly looked at me, "inside the old abandoned farm house. Your house, Elana, before anyone lived there."

My breath caught in my throat. I didn't even know it was open to anyone back then. Especially to an 8-year-old Luke, hiding from his parents. I looked down at the floor. Luke was really a natural at this. If I were him, I wouldn't be able to tell anyone this stuff.

He continued. "My mom wanted to go after me, so of course she ran over to Fugue Forest. And when she was searching there…" His eyes looked blank. "A typhoon hit. She couldn't get out of the forest in time." He rested his head in his arms, as his voice grew heavier. "Then lightning struck the tree she was standing just a little too close to, and that was it. Sometimes I still think it's my fault."

I swallowed the lump forming in my throat. I felt so bad. I didn't even know why he wanted to play this game with a past like that. Part of me wanted to get up right now and go give him a hug.

"Ever since then my dad's got a drinking problem and goes to the bar every night."

The desire to hug was getting worse.

But suddenly a smile worked his way back onto Luke's face. "But I don't like to get sad over stuff like that. I like to smile. Smiling is fun." The smile grew bigger. "What else?… I met Owen when I was 3, and Bo started working for my dad when I was 11…" He tapped his finger on his chin. "And… oh yeah! I have a dog. The end!"

We all stared at him. That's how he ended his life's story? With 'I have a dog!' That was so like him. He was still smiling.

"Sorry, Luke…" Bo said quietly. I saw Owen nod in agreement.

Luke smiled. "I will accept that apology if you guys can do a confession as good as that one! Because you have to admit, that was pretty beast!"

I laughed. "Yup, you're a natural! I don't know how you said that so easily. It's going to be harder for the rest of u-"

"Elana goes next!"

I stared wildly at the blue-haired axemen. "W-why me!"

He shrugged. "Because."

"What an answer…" I grumbled.

Then I felt Chase give my hand a reassuring squeeze. I gave him a side-glance. He was looking at me, giving me a cute half-smile.

I sighed. "Fine."

"My name is Elana and I'm 15 years old. Um… my favorite color is red, my favorite food is anything sweet, and my pet peeve is when people call me Elena instead of Elana."

Luke laughed. "C'mon, Elena, get onto the juicy stuff!"

I glared at him. "Fine. I have a mom, who's a nurse, and a little brother named Cooper. He's 5, but he'll turn 6 in a week." I thought. What else…?

Luke's hand shot up into the air and he began to wave it around like an over-eager kindergartener. I sighed. "Yes, Luke?"

"What about your dad? And why did you decided to move here? And do you have a dog as awesome as mine?"

I raised an eyebrow. "I don't have a dog, I had a hamster."

"A hamster?"

"Yes, is that a problem?"

"No, ma'm!"

"Ok, well… my dad died four seasons ago in a fire. You see, he was a car-repairman so-"

To my surprise, Chase was the one who interrupted. "What?"

I shrugged, rubbing my elbow vaguely. "Yeah, well…"

"Wait… 4 seasons ago? Didn't you only move here 2 seasons ago?"

Not knowing Chase had been keeping track, I shrugged once again. I didn't see what the big deal was. "Yeah. Why is that a problem?"

Silence filled the cave, making me nervous once again. "Let me finish my story and you'll see why, ok?"

"So he, uh, died, and my mom wasn't handling it very well. So she quit her job as a nurse. Then, of course, our family needed money and my mom couldn't do anything, so I heard from someone that Casanet Island needed a new rancher and," I smiled, "here I am! I send my mom half the profits I make at the end of every season, and keep the other half for the ranch." I thought for a second. "And that's pretty much it!" And of course, I thought, I met Finn on right before my departure to the Island and got caught up in all this 'saving the land' crap…

"So…" Luke looked confused. "You're mom quit her job because she was, like, depressed. And then you decided you could make money for her? Not to be rude, but doesn't that make your mom sound a little selfish?"

My eyes were glued to the floor. "Well, um, she was going through a hard time, and I couldn't just sit back and do nothing. I mean, she had every right to quit her job. I guess…" I felt uncomfortable, but if telling them about my past is what's going to get them to tell me about theirs, it was worth it.

"Elana?"

"Yeah, Bo?"

"W-well you don't sound very sad about your fathers death… um…"

I smiled, knowing this would come up sooner or later. "Of course I'm sad! He's my dad! But I know that if I wanted to keep my family strong and work hard, then I would have to be strong, too. So I try not to get too upset about it."

The guys smiled. I smiled back.

Luke cleared his throat. "Ok! I think that was a pretty awesome confession, but not as awesome as mine!" I stuck my tongue out at him playfully, which he quickly did in return. "So I think it's Owen's turn next!"

I looked over at Owen, propped up against the wall, and bandaged leg outstretched in front of him. The boy shrugged. "It won't be very exciting. Sorry to disappoint, you, Luke."

"Then we'll make it exciting!" was Luke's response.

The blacksmith laughed lightly. "Ok, here I go."

"My name is Owen and I'm 17 years old. I'm going to start out boring like Elana did: my favorite color is black, favorite food is boiled corn, and pet peeve is when people complain how hard mining is. Because, really, if it's that hard, then don't even do it."

I was racking my brain; trying to remember if I had ever told him mining was hard, when Luke spoke. "BORING!"

Owen rolled his eyes. "I'm getting there! Ok, well I didn't…" he pondered for the right word, "behave very well as a kid. My parents were really stuck-up; my dad was a lawyer and my mom was a stay-at-home mom. We lived in this huge house and stuff and they hated when I broke something, or got something dirty, or stayed out playing too late, or just didn't listen to them in general.

"So one day, when I was 6, they decided to send me over to Casanet to live with my granduncle, Ramsey, for a year. I wasn't too psyched about it at first. But then I realized that I was meant to be a blacksmith. I really liked it. And, of course, I met Luke."

Luke beamed.

"And that's about it. Even though I was only supposed to stay here for a year, I found that I couldn't leave, so I called my parents and told them I was staying. The end!"

I thought about this. It was defiantly not as sad as Luke's, but it was still a little bit sad. 6-year-old Owen not behaving correctly for his stuck-up parents and being sent away was a sad thought. But knowing that sending him away made him really happy in the long run was a happy thought. So I guess it was a happy ending after all.

"Have you seen your parents since they sent you away?" Luke asked.

"Nope." Owen folded his muscular arms behind his head and leaned back. "Nor do I want to. I have no desire to go back to that way-too-clean house."

There was an eerie silence dwelling in the cave now.

"Whelp! I think it's time for Bo's!" Luke look thrilled.

Bo, on the other hand, didn't. "I-it's not that great. Can't you just skip me or something?"

"No." Luke and I said at the same time.

Bo's eyes grew wider. "Ok, fine." He took what I thought to be a calming breath, and began. "My name is Bo. I'm 12. Um, my favorite color is baby-blue, my favorite food is curry, and my-"

"BORIN-"

"Ok, ok! Well, um, I have a mom, a dad, and 5 older brothers. They're, uh, all really strong and fit and stuff. My dad's a construction worker and my mom owns a gym. All of my older brother's are really strong and fast and brave. B-but as you guys probably know, I'm not really like that…"

Luke gasped. "Really? No way! I had no idea!"

Owen elbowed him and Bo continued.

"So they picked on me a lot. I wasn't really respected. So when I was 9 I ran away to Casanet. I heard there was a carpenter's shop in Garmon Mines. I had always wanted to be a carpenter. So I asked Dale-"

Luke snorted. "You mean begged Dale! I was there, I saw you!"

He received another elbow from Owen.

"Yeah, so he finally agreed to take me in as an apprentice, and I've been training with Luke ever since. I really like my job. I still visit my family once a year, and now they respect me a little more, which is nice."

I smiled. That was a nice ending.

"I don't think I have any questions… wait! I do!" Luke cleared his throat. "Why is your favorite color baby-blue?"

"I-I don't know, it just… is?"

"Good answer! CHASE'S TURN!"

Here we go. The thing I've been waiting for all night. I squeezed his hand slightly, as he had done to mine when it was my turn.

Chase sighed. "Ok, fine. But I'm not a story teller, so I don't know how well this is going to go…"

"We can ask questions." Owen suggested.

"Yeah!" Luke exclaimed. "First question! Who are you and how old are you? And do all that boring stuff Elana started!"

"I'm Chase, and I'm 15." He sounded bored. "My favorite color is orange, my favorite food is oranges, and my pet peeve is bad food."

I took a mental note.

"Ok…" Luke looked thoughtful. "Tell us about your family."

"I don't have one."

We all froze, staring at Chase. He still looked bored.

"So, you're an orphan?" Luke asked.

"Yup. I might have a few aunts or something in the city, but I don't really know."

"And…" Luke looked confused again, "do you remember your family?"

"Uh-huh."

"Describe them."

Chase sighed. "We lived in the city. My parents were both chefs. They taught me how to cook. I had a little sister named Annabel… she would be 11, I think."

I cringed at the 'would be'.

"…What happened?" Luke practically whispered.

Chase rolled his eyes. "There's no point in being so dramatic about it, you know."

Luke shrugged.

"Ok, well one winter when I was 10 all four of us were in my mom's car, driving home from an early Christmas party, I think." Suddenly he got that faraway look in his eyes, just like Luke had. "The roads were slippery. And suddenly a truck hit the side of our car, full speed." I muffled a gasp with my other hand. "My dad didn't have his seat belt on, and my sister was sitting right were the truck had hit, so they died on impact. My mom and I were taken to the hospital. But she died there."

"And you… weren't hurt?" Luke sounded scared at this point.

Chase shrugged. "I walked away with a few major injuries, but they all healed."

"Then what?"

"I didn't want to end up in some city-orphanage, so I heard that Master Yolanda was looking for a cooking apprentice on Casanet Island, so I moved there. I work at the Brass Bar now as a chef, and rent a house on Marimba Farm's property." He let out a bored sigh. "The end."

We were all quiet. No offense to Luke, but Chase's story was defiantly the saddest. I had no idea… he never seemed like the kind of boy who had witnessed the death of his own family…

"I don't want your sympathy." I jumped, thinking he was talking to me, but when I turned I saw he was looking at all of us. He sounded bitter. "I don't need it."

"O-ok." Luke said quietly.

We sat in silence for a few minutes, then…

"And that concludes tonight's game of MIDNIGHT COFESSIONS!" Luke jumped up and threw his arms in the air. "And the best story teller award goes to…" he made a 'drum-roll' sound with his mouth. "ME! CONGRADULATIONS! OH, THANK YOU SO MUCH! WHAT AN HONOR! OH, MY!" He bowed over and over as the rest of us clapped and tried our best to laugh. Besides Chase. He was still sitting there, staring into space.

And he had let go of my hand.

No matter how hard he pretended, I knew it had hurt him to tell us all that.

I would have to talk to him later.

A/N: Well? What did you think? Please let me know! Thank you so much! I love reviews; they make me so happy! I know I say that at the end of every chapter, but it's true!

I hope you liked the pasts. I was originally going to make Owen 14 when he came to the island, and his parents sent him there as punishment for underage drinking. But then I realized that him and Luke have been friends since they were little, so that wouldn't work.

If you liked the pasts, or maybe just one of them, please let me know! I might write a story on one of them someday. :)

Next chapter will have more romance between Elana and Chase, and also a little between Elana and Luke (I hope…). But I won't give away too much yet XD

I'll update if you review! Thanks again!

~blue-eyed-cow