As promised, here is a chapter dedicated to those who put up with the madness of fanfiction updating :) thanks for sticking with me!

He had been awoken unceremoniously by his mother on Harmony Day, her nimble hands ripping the blankets off him long before the roosters outside crowed, pushing him to get dressed. "Up, Ash! You have a big day ahead of you."

He yawned. "A big day of what, milking cows?"

"Don't be ridiculous. You know, Cam and I were talking and we both think it wouldn't kill you to simply apologize to Lillian... And heavens knows I would want one if I was her. Up, then, I've already made the cake."

He had been kicked from his doorstep with ample threats of no dessert for the week and had resigned to carry the ridiculously overdecorated cake his mother had made to Lillian's farm, Cam accompanying him more on his mother's orders rather than actual emotional support. "I don't get it. She's been here for a two weeks. How could I have possibly done enough damage in two weeks to make her deserving of a whole cake?"

"To be fair, you did inadvertently tell your sister to shove a bug down her dress. That has to be deserving of something." Cam laughed beside him, not bothering to help him carry the tray along the bumpy road that led to Lillian's ranch.

"Regardless." He huffed, dodging around a rock.

"You're just mad because you think she's pretty and she won't bother to give you the time of day." Cam chuckled beside him as they stopped at her farm gates. "Same thing happened with Laney when we were 17, remember? You spilt pancake batter all over her dress and she didn't talk to you for a week. Remember how hard you tried to make it up to her then? It just made her more mad." They had rounded the corner to the ranch, Cam still reminiscing. "I'm telling you, it's the exact same thing- you need to calm down around her and just treat her like a normal human rather than some sort of Harvest Goddess."

"I don't think she's some sort of Harvest Goddess-" He cut himself off as he peered around. Despite only being inhabited for only a few weeks, Lillian's farm already seemed to be making a turn for the better- the long grass had been cut, the fields were weeded and sowed, several pegs of the fence fixed and a fresh coat of paint on the barn. Ash allowed a low whistle to slip past his lips.

"She certainly hasn't wasted a second here, has she?" He chuckled, shifted the weight of the cake in his hands as he looked around.

Cam didn't show nearly as much interest as he did, and shoved his hands deep in his pockets. "Sure. Well, I did what I promised Jessica. Tell me how it goes, will you?" He left Ash standing awkwardly along the garden path.

He could feel his stomach knotting as he walked towards her door, the feeling that he was about to get a cake shoved in his face only worsening as he his loud knock was left un-replied. He waited in silence, his mind racing. He had never had somebody not like him before-sure, he, Georgia and Laney had had their differences when they were kids, but he had never had anyone treat him the way Lillian had. Granted, he had never treated anyone the way he treated Lillian but... He knocked again, silence ringing back at him. It was becoming more clear by the second that Lillian wasn't at the farm- a quick look around revealed nothing more than a cow and a few stray chickens.

Leaning against a fence post, he mentally weighed his options. Leaving the cake behind or not delivering it at all wasn't even a possibility- his mother would have his skin for not taking the opportunity to make-up with Lillian. His thoughts switched from if to where, replaying his walk down to her farm in his head. He hadn't seen her in the village on his way here... He allowed his feet to guide him and let them lead him to the overgrown mountains, struggling to hold the cake steady as his footing became increasingly precarious.

He didn't know what exactly he was looking for until he found it- Lillian's opal horse grazing by itself in a low field, its master nowhere to be seen. Half satisfied with his discovery, he ventured closer. "Hey girl," He cooed softly, shifting the cake's weight in his arms and scratching the beast's neck in greeting. He had been afraid that the horse, like its master, would have an extreme aversion to him and was pleasantly surprised when it neighed softly, tossing its head slightly to his touch. "Seen Lillian?" He asked it, receiving only a loud snort in reply.

He set the cake precariously on a nearby log, beginning to fiddle with his suspenders nervously. He could feel the heat of the day beginning to warm the back of his neck- no doubt the cake wouldn't keep well if it spent much longer in the heat.

He was beginning to debate returning to her farm and simply spending the day there waiting for her when he heard it- a small rustling coming from somewhere above his left shoulder. He glanced up and over, the echoes betraying his ears as they began to bounce off the rocky walls around him. "Lillian?" His voice bounced back at him as the rustling stopped, his ears straining hard to hear anything that might signal her presence.

"Ash?"

There could be no denying the feminine voice that called back, sounding as if it was up and over the rock wall in front of him. "Lillian?" He called again. "Where are you?"

"I'm... I'm up this ledge. I've gotten stuck, can you go get someone?"

He hesitated, listening to the edge to her voice as his chivalrous upbringing began to kick in. "You're not hurt, are you?"

"Uh, no... I just think maybe you should go and get someone else, maybe Georgia?"

He disregarded her request and began seeking out the familiar hollows in his rocks, the ones he knew so well from climbing in his childhood. "It'll take too long, here... I'm almost halfway up anyway."

He could hear the embarrassment in her voice, his feet slipping into the stone's grooves and nooks. "No Ash, please... Just get Jessica or Howard..." He could hear her let out a squeak as he pulled himself over the ledge with a grunt, the climb leaving him slightly breathless as he looked around for her. "Where are you?" He panted, resting his palms momentarily on his knees before straightening up.

He felt his cheeks instantly flood crimson and had the overwhelming urge to cover his eyes. It became glaringly obvious why she had requested the presence of his mother, whom would know how to handle this type of thing.

"Don't laugh." Lillian glared at him as he adverted his eyes, the palms of his hands becoming suddenly very sweaty. The girl in question hadn't been lying when she had said she was stuck- indeed, the bottom of her skirt had become so ensnared in the thorns of a rose bush that it had torn away in several places, revealing a certain amount of thigh to his blushing eyes.

He certainly didn't have the urge to laugh- his heart was beating so loudly his chest that he was almost afraid to open his mouth for fear of her hearing it. Clearing his throat gruffly, he began to play with his suspenders while staring fixedly at his shoes. "How, uh, did that happen?"

Lillian seemed just as embarrassed as he was, her voice rather high pitch as she spoke. "I tried to climb higher and fell on this stupid bush." She huffed, her hands trying and failing to rearrange the tattered pieces of her skirt for more modesty, a few pieces of her hair becoming snagged with the movement. "I've been stuck here since just after dawn, I thought I was going to have to wait until Eileen came to the mountains tomorrow before anyone found me." She paused, looking at him suspiciously despite the blush on her face. "What are you doing up here anyway?"

He blushed, his eyes still fixed on his feet. "My mother sent me with a cake."

She sent him a quizzical look but didn't reply, her fingers beginning to pick at the pieces on bush snared in her hair. He felt himself go a deeper shade of red, his voice cracking slightly as he attempted to show a bit of grit. "You know, I brush Cheryl's hair all the time, I'm pretty good at untangling stuff. It'd probably be faster than if I, you know, went and grabbed someone."

She scoffed at him. "Pfft. You can try if you want. I think I'm going to need half the town to help me out of this."

He could hear the challenge in her voice, and it was the need to show her up more than anything that sent him towards her. Acting much braver than he felt, he walked until he stood no more than a few inches apart from her, his fingers feeling like other entities on the ends of his arms as they reached up and grasped the sides of her face. "Let me just...Um, a little to the left." He said in an unusually quiet manner, his voice nearly breaking as she looked up at him through her lashes. He could feel her cheeks burn pink under his hands, his one finger gently catching her chin and turning her face.

She had resolved to glare angrily at him, the tip of her nose turning pink alongside her cheeks. "I told you, just go get somebody else..."

"And I told you, it's faster if I get this done now rather than running off and getting someone else just so you can save a little face."

He smirked down at her as she glared defiantly up at him, an uneasy silence beginning to settle between them as she huffed angrily once more. It was a rare treat for him, seeing Lillian who was so notoriously independent and stubborn, bending to his will. Just when he was beginning to get full of himself the sudden rush of warm air against his neck caught him off guard, sending an unexpected low swoop into his stomach, his hands suddenly becoming shaky as he swallowed thickly.

"So..." She began, her voice wavering slightly as he began to pick at the coffee coloured ends of her hair, apparently just as uncomfortable with the current arrangement as he was. "So. You do Cheryl's hair?"

For a moment the question was lost to his ears- her sweet breath was tickling against the crook of his neck once more, the smell of lavender hitting him hard in the face as he began to loop his fingers into her hair. Trying not to breath too heavily, he cleared his throat, and tried to recall his usual cool tone.

"Yeah." He shifted slightly, his hands already freeing a large portion of her locks as another rush of lavender hit him across the face. "Just before bed. It's something I used to do for her when she was really small to soothe her when she was crying. Guess I never really stopped."

Lillian was quiet for a moment, a small hum escaping her throat before she spoke in her usual cool tone. "That's nice of you to do for her."

He pricked his finger on a thorn, the side of his thumb grazing the edge of her cheek. Goddess, she was soft. "I guess. Mom had a lot on her plate when Dad left, and she had to learn how to run the store by herself so... It was just easier on her if I helped."

She looked him in the eye suddenly- a look that wasn't her usual glare, but rather a much softer look than he was accustomed to; what was that in her green and gold flecked eyes- pity? He could feel his senses going into over load; the feel of her soft cheeks underneath his hands, lavender scent washing over him every time he so much as moved a piece of her hair, her tiny tongue reaching out to moisten her lips as she dew breath...

"... That's sweet of you, Ash."

Despite her cool tone, her breath against his neck made him fumble, a small thorn slipped through his fingers and poked her just hard enough to draw blood from her cheek, a tiny gasp escaping her mouth as tears instantly welled in her eyes. "Ouch!"

"Oh man, are you okay?" He felt his cheeks go red, watching as her hands shot up to her face to rub desperately at her green and gold flecked eyes.

"No, I'm fine." She said a little thickly, her usual glare back on her face. "Just surprised me is all."

He dug in his pocket and pulled out a stained hanky, his face falling slightly when she refused it. "Sorry..." He said apologetically. "But on the plus side, your hair is free."

As if she didn't believe him, she ran a hand though her hair, sniffling slightly. "Oh." She paused slightly awkwardly. "Thanks."

There was a certain about of awkwardness between them, as if they were suddenly aware of how close together they were. He cleared his throat and stepped back, reaching up to rub the back of his neck. "Do you want me to try getting your skirt free too?"

"Um... Sure."

He bent down awkwardly in front of her, suddenly very aware that he had never seen this much exposed flesh from any girl before, his red cheeks thankfully hidden from Lillian. He didn't know which was worse: having Lillian's eyes, lips, skin, hair and scent distract him before, or the toned expanse of thigh stretched before him, begging to be touched...

"Ouch, Ash!"

Lillian's hand shot out to his shoulder for balance, the stem he had just freed having scraped fiercely against the back of her leg and sent her jumping forward in surprise. He nearly lost his own balance, his wobbling sending her falling forward away from the bush with a loud rip of her skirts.

She landed somewhere beside him with a loud thud, pieces of her long skirts hanging from the bushes. "What was that about?" She yelled, sitting up next to him with her hair sticking out at odd angles from her bandana.

"S-sorry." He stuttered as she stood before him, looking over her shoulder at the damage to her skirt.

"Oh, Ash, look at this!" Truthfully he was having a hard time tearing his eyes away, the rip sending blood pumping to his cheeks- the absence of fabric now extending so far up her thighs it barely covered her posterior, the scratches he had left on her leg hardly beginning to bleed.

Misreading the look on his face and she turned, her hands going to her hips as she glared down at him. "This is going to cost a fortune to fix... I was almost better off being stuck up there. Thanks a lot, Ash." She said angrily before she turned on her heel and stomped down the mountain.

He managed to find his voice. "Don't be so dramatic!" He yelled after her. "It's not even that bad!" But she had already gone to far to hear him, his mother's cake no doubt already stale on the log where he left it. Sighing, he removed his hat from his head and allowed himself to lean back until he crashed against the spring grass. Why, why couldn't he just be normal around this girl?

Here you are babies, 2 updates in 1 day! Please let me know what you think and any ideas or concepts you want to see added to later chapters :)