.GOODNESS.

There are two reasons as to why this update was so slow,

My laptop broke, so I had to wait until I knew if it could be fixed or not before I was allowed to use my Mum's. (Which obviously means that no, my laptop couldn't be fixed.)

I originally started writing about the wrong festival LOL. SO I had to go back and change it around a bit. (I wrote about the Moon festival because I'm stupid, and had recently seen it on my copy of the game. )

Despite that, I hope that you enjoy this chapter! My apologies for the lateness of it because of those reasons! D:

Disclaimer: Harvest Moon does not belong to me bruvah!

"What about this one?"

"Too casual."

"This?"

"Too...over the top."

"Awww come on Mol, we're going to run out of freakin options soon!"

"Oooor, you're going to run out of floor."

"Luke! You're not helping."

As unhelpful as Luke was being, he was strangely right for a change. Sitting in the middle of the increasing pile of clothes, Molly frowned as she started to fold the once neat and perfectly in place garments, and piled them up on the bed next to her dresser.
Molly had never really been the type of girl to fuss over her appearance, let's face it-she's a farmer, her clothes are going to get filthy whatever she does. So naturally, she was perfectly fine with just going on her date with Chase in her usual bar attire, she was pretty sure he wouldn't even notice if she made an extra special effort for the night- she didn't see him as the sort of person to worry about those things either.

Unfortunately for Molly, Kathy wasn't going to have any of that.

As soon as Molly told the girl about the 'date' which she was going to be having for the Starry Night Festival the day before, Kathy couldn't stop talking about it, getting ridiculously panicked about how it was all going to turn out. So obviously when she asked Molly what she was going to wear, and she simply responded with 'this', the girl stared at her like she had grown four heads.

"No..." she firmly stated. "YOU CAN'T WEAR THAT! WHAT WILL HE THINK OF YOU?"

So as much as Molly had protested, the said girl was now in her house, (After bringing along an also very reluctant Luke for a second opinion) practically destroying her clothes dresser in an attempt to find a suitable outfit.

Sighing as she stood up and stretched her legs, Molly looked over to Luke who she was worried Kathy was about to strangle after the previous comment. Apparently okay, he gave her a sympathetic smile before heading into the kitchen.

"I'm gonna make us some tea. I think we'll all need something to relax after this fiasco."

"Big word for you, Luke. Be careful with the kettle this time, I don't want scalding water to fly around the house like last time you made some tea."

"You know that was only because I tripped! I'm not THAT clumsy, and I know plenty of big words THANK-YOU-VERY-MUCH."

"Oh? Like wha-"

"OH MY GOODNESS MOLLY! THIS IS PERFECT!"

Walking over to Kathy to inspect what she had found, Molly was apparently oblivious to the curses and groaning which were coming from the next room; the loud shout had ironically startled Luke enough to drop the kettle again, thankfully with only cold water in it this time though.

"What did you find, Kathy?"

"This!"

Swinging around on her heel with a triumphant look on her face, Kathy held up the seemingly miracle piece of clothing for Molly to see, happy with he Luke which she received from her friend in return.

"I completely forgot that I had brought this! It's beautiful, but won't it be a little bit cold?"

"That's the point, if you get cold, then Chase has even more of a reason to cuddle up to you! Just like last time."

"L...last time?"

"Mhmm, we're not dumb Molly, we saw you two after the incident with Simon."

Heating up slightly, Molly snatched the clothes from Kathy and locked herself in the bathroom, mumbling something about her and Luke being stalkers before stripping down to adorn her newly re-found outfit for the night.

xxxxxxxx

"Where the hell is he...?"

Shivering as she clutched her clothes to her as close as possible, Molly desperately looked around for Chase.

It was only five minutes past their arranged meeting time, but for someone as paranoid as Molly, that was enough to send her into panic mode. Deciding to give it ten more minutes before she would just give up and go home, Molly paced around to keep as warm as possible.

...

"My watch just must be wrong...yeah that's it, the battery must be starting to run low."

Sighing as she lowered her arm, the young girl bit her lip to stop herself from trying to cry. Even though she had promised herself to leave after the ten minutes were up, Molly still found herself rooted to the same spot in which she had made that promise half an hour ago.

"Are you okay, Molly?"

Jumping slightly at the sudden voice behind her, Molly looked around quickly in hope – only to find Hamilton staring at her with a rather confused look.

Her heart dropping as soon as she saw the mayor standing before her, she managed a sad smile before fiddling with her hair awkwardly.

"Y-yeah I'm fine, just waiting for the stars like everyone else!" Laughing as she finished her sentence, Molly looked down at her feet, hoping that the man would get the gist and leave her alone.

Not entirely convinced, the kind-hearted, (but a blight nosey) Mayor put a supporting hand on Molly's shoulder before turning his attention over to Simon, who was busy scrambling about in the snow after apparently losing a piece of his camera equipment.

"Well, if you want some company to join when the moon does come out, then you're very welcome to come over to join the group of us 'oldies'!"

"Ahh...thanks."

Meekly waving as the energetic man ran off, Molly scanned the area one last time, noting the several couples which were now sitting on soft blankets whilst exchanging food and words, seeming to be completely wrapped up in each other's company.
Even Maya had a date for the night-she had seen the boy around before, Max was it?

Finishing her scan and coming up with no signs of her own supposed date for the night, Molly decided that enough was enough, and it was time to head back home.

"He...He stood me up?" she whispered to herself as she still desperately tried not to cry, the effort this time however, being in vain.

Picking up her pace as she followed to snow-cleared path back to her farm, a few tears fell down her cheeks and onto her folded arms, the salty water making small dark patches appear on the delicate fabric which covered them.

"Molly...? Molly! Where are you going?"

'It's probably just Hamilton Molly, keep walking, keep walking...'

Almost running in an attempt to get away from the voice, Molly suddenly felt a warm hand grab a hold of her arm, almost causing her to stumble and trip.

"Hey, what do you think..."

Turning around about to give whoever grabbed her a thrashing, Molly just stared blankly as she came face to face with the man who she had been waiting for for the past half an hour. The man who had also made her cry.

"You've been...crying?"

"Nice observation, Sherlock!"

Wiping her eyes with her sleeve as a scowl appeared on her face, she waited for an explanation from Chase, who was just standing silently looking as Molly composed herself once more.

"Well...?" she asked impatiently after she was done, re-folding her arms in an attempt to look more angry, which in reality, just made her look more cute.

"Why were you crying?"

"..."

"Molly?"

"You're kidding me, right?"

"No! I want to know why you were upset."

Blinking in confusion, Molly had to restrain herself from slapping him right there and then.

"Let me ask you something." She calmly began, placing a hand to her forehead, "Do you have a clock in your house at all, Chase?"

"No, my only one stopped working a couple of days ago, and I haven't had a chance to go to Barbara's store yet, why's that important?"

Shoving her watch adorned wrist in his face, Molly stayed silent for fear of what she could say if she opened her mouth.

"Crap, you're serious?" Taking her wrist and pulling it closer to his face, Chase practically pressed his eyes to the glass encased contraption to make sure that he was really reading the time correctly.

"Mhmm."

"Oh, Molly." Looking at her with genuinely sorry looking eyes, he felt a pang of guilt as he realised that he was the reason why she had been crying. "I'm sorry, I was cooking for us, and I guess...I guess I just lost track of time...you know how into cooking that I get. Ah what am I saying, I don't think there's any excuse for making you cry...just know that I really am sorry and-"

Stopping as he felt a small hand take a hold of his, Chase looked down at Molly who was now smiling beside him.

"You dope. I understand how much you love cooking, it comes as no surprise, really. But seriously, no clock in your house? I don't know whether to admire the fact that you can cook without using one, or slap you for being late and making me think that you had stood me up."

Letting out a sigh, Chase smiled back at the woman, shocked that she wasn't as angry as she had the right to be. Shocked, but hellishly relieved.

"That food better be good, though."

"Is that a threat? If so, you know my food is always good."

Both of them, now laughing, walked back to Moon Hill in a comfortable silence, apparently forgetting that they were still holding each other's hands.

"Hey...why are they all staring at us?" Frowning as she looked around, all Molly could notice were sets of eyes focused on the pair, and whisperings and slight giggling coming from the girls.

"You're being far too paranoid Molly, they're probably not staring at us at...all."

"What is it?"

Nodding his head downwards to indicate the linked hands, and the source of the gossip, Molly quickly let go and stuffed her hand into the pocket on her dress-shirt.

"S-sorry..." she mumbled, going back to her usual, embarrassed state of mind which she usually felt when people spotted her and Chase out together.

"It's okay, don't worry about it." Not denying that he felt slightly sad about the loss of contact, Chase quickly changed the subject by pointing out a sufficient space where the two could set up their 'late-night-picnic-kind-of-date.'

After having comfortably settled themselves on the blanket which protected them from the dewy grass, the pair were quick to start eating the snacks which had been prepared in order to find some more warmth.

"Man...Why can't these festivals be in the summer or something, it's far too cold out here."

"Well if it was in the summer, then there wouldn't be many stars to see, would there?"

For around an hour similar chatter continued, with a few token insults along the lines off 'oh you're so obsessed with cooking that you might as well marry your oven' and 'Well you're so into your farming that maybe you should just marry one of your cows' thrown in just to prove passer's by that they were still just friends, and weren't loved up at all. Nope, not one bit.

Finally running out of food and relevant topics to talk about, Molly leant back on her elbows to get a better view at the sky, which was now just beginning to be speckled with the glimmering form of the galaxy's stars.

"Hopefully we'll see lots of shooting stars tonight." She said dreamily, keeping her focus on the sky as to not miss any of the said objects.

Leaning back into the same position as her, Chase contemplated how beautiful the sky actually was, and how maybe the festival was actually a decent idea, a thought which was strange for the man who normally hated the communal and social kind of activity.

"Maybe, I'd be happy with just seeing one, though."

"Oh? What are you going to wish for?"

Looking over at Molly with a playful look on his face, he smiled at her childish innocence which the festival seemed to have brought to her.

"Well, I don't believe in this kind of stuff, but if I told you, surely it wouldn't come true?"

"Hmm...I guess you're right. It would be nice to know, though..."

"I'd like it to come true though, so sorry, I can't tell you."

"I thought that you just said that you didn't believe in that kinda stuff though hmmmm?"

"Oh, yeah, right...well I don't okay! Just...Argh, stop being annoying."

Looking away in embarrassment, Chase caught the sight of Molly chuckling out of the corner of his eye, before she looked back up to the stars again. He noted how beautiful she looked that evening, the glow of the stars only illuminating her soft features even more-so. He had never seen her in such an outfit, either. Sure, he saw her in that Halloween costume, which he wasn't going to think about in case...problems aroused from the thought, but this outfit was...different. It still made her look stunning just as the cat costume had, but this time it was stunning in a different way. The red, almost velvet like fabric of the dress-top which she wore only brought out the colour of her hair and eyes even more, and the tight fitting black leggings which were neatly tucked into patent red boots, only made her legs look even longer and slender than what they already were.

"You look really beautiful tonight."

He said it without thinking, immediately hiding his face as he did so, prepared for either the deny of what he had just said, or being called a 'perv' for looking at her in that way.

"You...noticed? Thank you, it makes me happy that you said that. I put a lot of effort into looking good for yo-tonight!"

Being shocked for the second time that evening, it began to occur to the budding chef that maybe, just maybe Molly felt, or was at least beginning to feel, something towards him as well.

"You always look good, though..." Again, without thinking, he just said it. It felt weird coming out with phrases which he never thought that he'd say to anyone, but at the same time it felt good. Good in knowing that he could have feelings for someone and that by expressing how he felt he was also making another person happy. Chase decided that he liked the feeling which complimenting Molly gave him, and just wished that he could do it more often, not just on the dates which he sincerely hoped that they would go more on.

"Chase...um..."

"HEY LOOK IT WAS A SHOOTING STAR!"

Cut off in mid sentence by the excited cries of the other viewers, Molly and Chase quickly turned their heads back up to the sky in anticipation for the next shower of stars.

"Ready? Make sure that you say your wish three times Chase, or else it won't come true!"

Smiling at how eager she was, Chase managed to take his attention off of Molly for enough time to witness a star travel through the night sky. Quickly closing his eyes and blocking out the noise around him, he made his one wish three times as quickly as he possible could, before opening his eyes to see Molly doing the same thing, the look of concentration on her face almost childlike.

Apparently content with her wish, Molly opened her eyes and smiled at Chase, who immediately returned the gesture.

"Was that your only wish?" He asked tentatively, almost scared at what her answer would be.

"Yup! There's only one thing which I wanted to wish for, this year."

"Ah I see."

Silence surrounding the two again, they returned their gaze back to the sky, and sat enjoying the rest of the display of shooting stars until the last one had fizzled out and returned to the stationary speck of light which was always see on those clear, cloudless nights.

Hearing Hamilton announce the end of the festival, the couples on the field stood up and stretched, before packing their things away for another year.

"Don't worry, I'll fold the blanket up."

"Oh are you sure?"

"Yeah, it's mine after all."

Waiting for Chase to finish packing the things which he brought with him away, Molly looked around the area before spotting Kathy, who was being supported by Owen, after obviously getting drunk.

"Owen!" She shouted, gaining the attention of the few people who remained, " The key to Kathy's house is in her pocket, if you need to know how to get in!"

"Thanks Mol! I was just wandering how I was going to get in, actually!"

"No problem, make sure you look after her!"

"M-maybe...we should be telling that to...you two! Have fun...with each other tonight!"

"Kathy, shush."

"Oh...baby, you're always so in control."

Mouthing a sympathetic 'sorry' to Molly as he held his other free hand over Kathy's mouth to make sure she wouldn't make any more suggestive remarks, Owen dragged the intoxicated girl along, praying that Simon had already gone home so he couldn't take pictures of the fiasco which was going to be trying to get into her house.

Waving slightly until they were out of sight, Molly turned her thoughts and attention away from Kathy and back to Chase, who was now just finishing clearing up. She had hoped that he hadn't heard what she had said, but judging by the visible red on his cheeks (even in the darkness of the night) he most certainly heard the words.

"Ready to go?" She asked, deciding it best to not bring up the conversation.

"Yeah...can I walk you home? I don't like the idea of you walking all that way back by yourself."

"Um sure! Thank you, that would be a nice idea."

As they walked back, the two made small talk to avoid yet another silence, which seemed to work for the most part, until they reached the road to the farm.

As they arrived at the door to her house, Molly pulled out the key from her pocket before turning to face Chase to say her 'thank you's' for the evening.

"I should be thanking you really, Molly. I would have never have gone to a festival like this if I didn't want to spend some more time with you."

"Well...your welcome? I think..."

Smiling, Chase did the third thing that night without thinking. He moved forward and ruffled the top of Molly's hair before gently leaning down to kiss her forehead.

As she felt the contact, Molly gasped - she was unsure of what to do apart from nervously stare at her feet for what seemed like an eternity, before Chase realised what he had done.

"Oh, I...I'm sorry...I didn't know what...arghh, I've completely messed the night up even more now, haven't I?"

"N, No! Not at all. You've done nothing wrong Chase!" reassuring him, Molly blushed as she realised what was beginning to happen. "Besides...what you did kind of fits in with what I wished for..." thinking that he wouldn't be able to hear the last part of her sentence, she panicked when he heard a muffled 'oh'.

Shivering as she felt the cold run through her, Molly noticed how the lamps illuminating the street for the walk home were now turned off, making the road back to Flute Fields almost invisible due to the darkness . And when you couple that with the ice and snow, it made the journey back a dangerous and silly one to take.

Because of this, Molly almost instantly asked the right question, without even stopping to think about the further implications which it may have.

"Do you want to stay here for the night?"

Hahaha I think that this would be a suitable place to end.

I'm actually pretty pleased with this chapter! I'd just like to say, though, I apologise now for any mistakes in the typing, for some reason when I spell words wrong, the laptop automatically corrects them to the FIRST option which it see's which half of the time isn't actually the correct one LOL.

And yes I DID read this before uploading it, but you know how your mind reads what you think you've typed? D: I've probably missed a lot of mistakes because of that.

LIKE USUAAAAL reviews are loved, and thank you for reading this! It makes me very happy knowing people are something enjoying this. xD