Hey y'all, it's ya girl back at it again. I just want to say real quick that I am in awe that the person who wrote probably the first Harvest Moon fic I read to completion is now reading mine? The world truly does run in a cycle and us Chase simps gotta stick together. I don't really have anything else to say except I'm running on a ton of coffee and very little sleep but I hope you lovelies enjoy! ~Shaymie

Angela

"Your sister's kinda scary when she wants to be."

Angela laughed at the haunted expression on Luke's face, the contents of the tupperware under her arm bouncing with the movement. With Kasey not here to read Luke the riot act, Molly had taken it upon herself to play the role of the overprotective sibling. She was barely over five feet tall, wearing a frilly yellow apron, and had spots of flour on her face, but she had managed to intimidate a man who was a full foot taller than her with nothing but her glare and a strawberry-coated butter knife.

"Hey, be glad she's not like Kasey. He always tried to fight my dates." Mikhail included. She'd had to stop Kasey from hunting her ex down when she told him what he'd done. It wasn't worth it. Besides, she got sweet retribution reading the way the internet slandered him. His reputation as a suave, smooth-talking gentleman had been ruined once word got out about him cheating on her and impregnating a teenager. It was almost enough to make her broken heart hurt less. It almost made her forget that the little wench had the nerve to send her an invitation to their wedding.

"Ange, she pointed a knife at me."

"It was a small one and it wasn't even sharp." The look of disbelief on his face sent her into a fresh fit of giggles. The festival hadn't even started yet and this date was already better than any she'd gone on with Mikhail. Dates with him were always awkward. He only took her to stuffy, expensive restaurants, and somehow the dates always turned into a photo op. Sometimes she thought he set it up on purpose to make himself look better. She stopped at the bridge to Flute Fields and looked at Luke with a smile. "Thanks for asking me out tonight."

Luke's face turned bright red as he struggled to stammer out a response. She tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, her own face flushing. She still couldn't believe she had this much of an effect on him, to the point where simply smiling at him flustered him. He had called her stunning when he came by to pick her up. Her. Stunning. The biggest compliment she'd ever gotten from Mikhail after spending hours getting primped up was passable.

...Maybe she should stop comparing Luke to Mikhail. It wasn't fair to him.

"Why are you thanking me?"

"Because until now I thought nobody would ever like me. I moved here fully expecting to become an old spinster or something." Angela laughed bitterly. Funny how one guy can screw up her self-confidence. "I mean, you should have seen what it was like back home. Everybody loved Molly. She's cute and talented. But being her sister combined with my personality seemed to scare people away. If Molly was unobtainable, they assumed I was too. I was always the one to ask people out, and even then it usually never went past a second date."

"They don't know what they're missing, then. You're not just Molly's sister, you're like, super badass! I've never seen anyone beat Owen in a drinking game or get even close to beating him at arm wrestling!" Luke grabbed her free hand and started walking towards the festival again. She wasn't sure if it was his hold on her hand or his words that caused her cheeks to flush darker. He... actually liked the things that she hated about herself. Sometimes she wished she could be more dainty and pretty like Molly.

They were alike in a lot of ways, but even their similarities had glaring differences. They were both brunette, but Molly's hair had taken on the caramel coloring and curliness of their mother's hair. Angela's was just a boring shade of brown like chocolate and straight like their father's had been. Their eyes were the same thing, Molly's the color of honey and Angela's a normal brown. Though the two of them were fit, Molly's muscles were somehow more... delicate, barely noticeable unless she did something to flex them like cleaning out the barn and coop or trying to push Minnie outside.

They've both had shitty boyfriends in the past. Angela wasn't sure who could be considered worse between Mark and Mikhail. Molly's ex had at least pretended to care about her. She couldn't even be sure if Mikhail had ever loved her. He had always been distant but reassured her that it was just how he was. But in the pictures and videos Lillian had posted, he was actually smiling. Laughing. Looking at her with actual love in his eyes.

If he had been unhappy with Angela, he should have just said so from the start.

If he was just in it because he needed someone to be his arm candy then he shouldn't have led her on and let her fall in love with him.

She could feel those old doubts creeping in again. Would Luke want someone's thrown-out goods? Would he want someone who's slept with dozens of strangers she met at clubs? Surely he could do better than her. There were other prettier girls around, girls he's known longer. What could he possibly want from a coward who ran away from all her problems? She should tell him now, before he gets too attached, and they can just be friends and forget this date ever happened.

You shouldn't ruin the date, a small voice whispered in the back of her head. She sucked her bottom lip in between her teeth. They were practically there anyway, the paper lanterns in the distance making the path down to the river look almost ethereal. It was too late to try and back out now. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves. She could worry about telling him everything later.

They were a bit early to the festival, so they found a quiet spot near the river to sit down. Luke took off his jacket and laid it on the ground so she wouldn't dirty her dress. She felt bad about sitting on it since it looked like a nice jacket. It was her favorite shade of red, too. She opened the container of cookies, handing one to Luke. His eyes lit up like a kid's in a candy store as he accepted the treat. He had been obsessed with Molly's baking since the Flower Festival, even offering to be her taste-tester whenever she made something new.

As if Angela would let him take her job.

She wasn't really sure what people talked about on dates, but luckily Luke spoke enough for the both of them. He spoke with his hands a lot, she was beginning to realize. She was also beginning to realize that he was really handsome. How could she have not noticed after spending so much time with him? And he had dimples. She'd never gone on a date with someone that had dimples. They were actually really cute. And his lips... were stained with strawberry jam.

She reached out and swiped at a stain on the corner of his mouth. He froze mid-sentence, golden eyes wide as she sucked her thumb into her mouth, licking off the jam. If this was anyone else she would have pulled him close and kissed him until his face was clean. But this was Luke, and she didn't want to overwhelm him. Even just that little motion seemed to have broken him. She smiled cheekily at him.

"You had something on your face. Actually, there's still a bit there." She pointed at her lips with a wink. Dumbfounded, Luke licked at his lips. Somehow that was even more of a tease than what she had done. His lips looked really kissable. She was surprised by how much she wanted to kiss him. Would it ruin their friendship? What if he decided he didn't want to date her after all or someone prettier moved in and he forgot all about her—

"A-Ange..."

Fuck it. She gripped the front of his shirt and pulled him in for a kiss. Luke stiffened but thankfully didn't pull away. He relaxed into the kiss, his hands going down to her waist and pulling her closer. Part of her wanted his hands to go a bit lower. She could taste the strawberries on his lips, mingling with the peach gloss Luna had forced on her. She had to remember to thank her for it later. The kiss was brief, lasting only a few moments, but felt like it lasted for far longer.

"Oh my god," she muttered, raising a hand to her lips. They were still tingling slightly. There was more emotion in that kiss than there'd been in the duration of her relationship with Mikhail. It was exhilarating. She... wanted more. She looked up at Luke, whose face had gone red once again. "I think I like you."

She was on cloud nine the rest of the night. Even though the Firefly Festival was meant to be a somber occasion, she couldn't help feeling giddy. Who knew that all it would take is one kiss to turn her world upside down in the best way possible? The sudden realization of liking Luke filled her stomach with butterflies. Reina was going to pull a major I-told-you-so, but she couldn't care less at this point.

It was late when the festival finally concluded. The near-midnight winds were chilling, so he dusted his jacket off and draped it over her shoulders with a shy smile. Kathy and Owen left a little while before them, Kathy shooting her a thumbs-up over her shoulder. Angela rolled her eyes. It felt like everyone had been rooting for her and Luke way before she realized she liked him. She held onto his hand the whole walk home.

She wasn't sure what this made them. Were they dating? Were they just friends with a mutual crush on each other? She was definitely going to call Muffy and Reina for advice tomorrow. Then again, Muffy probably wouldn't be much help. She's had an on and off thing going on with Jack for years. They were that couple. Those two needed to decide what they wanted already. Maybe Reina could help whenever she's not bogged down with work.

She shouldn't get so ahead of herself. She didn't even know what Luke's reaction would be to her past. For all she knew, that could be a dealbreaker for him and he could wind up not wanting anything to do with a past slut. He didn't seem like that kind of guy, but she'd learned the hard way not to judge a book by its cover.

"Thanks for the date." She smiled up at Luke once they reached her porch, pushing the negative thoughts out of her mind. She could worry about that later. Tonight's been amazing and the last thing she wanted to do was ruin it with her stupid pessimism. She stood on her toes and gave him a peck on the cheek. "I hope we can do it again sometime."

"Y-Yeah... Yeah, of course!" She gave him a small wave before walking into the house. She closed the door behind her and leaned against it with a dreamy sigh. A date! She'd been on her first real date with a guy that asked her out! And she didn't completely botch it! As she blindly reached for the light switch, she realized three things: one, she forgot to give Luke his jacket back. Two, the TV was on, albeit in sleep mode. And three, Molly was asleep on the couch cuddled up to a sleeping Chase, whose head was resting on top of hers.

After snapping a quick picture, she shook Chase awake. He grumbled—typical—and slowly sat up, taking care to not let Molly fall off the couch. Her brows furrowed in her sleep as she was moved from her human pillow, a sleepy sigh escaping her lips. Chase carefully positioned her so she was laying on the couch by herself before standing up fully and stretching. Angela watched with a raised eyebrow. Maybe she should rethink her crush theory. Molly seemed to turn Chase into a tender little softie.

"You know, normally I'd strangle any guy I found sleeping with my sister," Angela whispered, eyes narrowing slightly. Luckily it seemed like they had just fallen asleep watching a movie or something. But wasn't that how it had been with Mark? First they were study buddies, then he came over to hang out and the next thing she knew the two of them were dating and Mark almost—

"It's not like that, Angela. We were just watching one of your crappy movies and it was so boring we fell asleep."

Right. This was Chase. Grumpy, sarcastic, bit of an asshole Chase. He was nothing like that cocky little prick Mark. She scowled at him and pointed at the door. Again, no pessimism allowed tonight. The last thing she wanted to do was think about Mark and ruin her good mood.

"Whatever, prick. Just get out of here already."