Maybe things would have been fine if she hadn't met him at that particular moment. Had she not happened to leave Regis's house at the exact moment she did, perhaps they would have been able to meet under different circumstances, maybe at a time when her hands and clothes weren't be covered in dirt and her hair might not have been so windswept. His horse might not have had to collide with her, knocking her over and forcing him to help her up. While helping her up, he wouldn't have gotten some of the dirt from her hands onto his own.

Surely, she thought, he was disgusted with her.

Never mind the fact that he didn't seem at all put off by it, or that he has been nothing but kind to her since the affair. She knew he must be hiding his true feelings, as he was probably raised to. Just like she was.

"Sorry," she said, pulling her hand back immediately when she saw how much dirt covered it. "My hand is dirty."

"I'm not worried about that," he assured her. His light blue eyes betrayed no sign of malice, at least, only concern. "I'm worried about you; Are you injured?" When she shook her head, he looked relieved. "Thank goodness for that! I've only just arrived to the islands, and I was afraid I'd made a bad impression already. You are an islander, are you not?"

She nodded. "I am, I'm a farmer." Obviously. I didn't need to say that, he can see for himself. "My name is Chelsea."

"Chelsea, I see. A delightful name, befitting a fair maiden such as you."

A...what?

She hoped the heat on her face was just the sun, and not a result of his flattery. "Thank you. Your name is?"

"Oh, yes! My apologies, I almost forgot. My name is..." he took a breath "William Terry Louis Johnathan Dredge Hams Reading Rodger Southwark Alnwick Plymouth Junior Regison III."

She couldn't help the surprised that showed up on her face, and he laughed lightly. "A bit of a mouthful, is it not? Worry not, you may call me Will."

And so, this mysterious person had a name. In terms of clothes, he wore the complete opposite of Vaughn's attire. Everything about him was light-his hair, his eyes were light blue, and even his clothes were white and a light shade of orange. She wondered if he owned anything that wouldn't show dirt.

Will went on to say that he was Regis's nephew, and that his father wanted him to travel the world. Why he chose to visit the islands first instead of a place like Paris or Greece was strange to Chelsea, but she knew it would be rude to ask.

They parted ways shortly after that, Will saying that he needed to visit his uncle and Chelsea saying she had work to get back to, but they promised to speak again, if possible.

Since moving to Sunshine Islands, Chelsea hadn't been ashamed of who she was. On her farm, she worked hard planting enough to survive, and she had fun working with her animals and bonding with them like the friends she made with the townspeople. It was an entirely different place than she had grown up. Her family never placed much value in friendships as she did, nor did they think she was in her right mind when she told them she planned to move away and start a farm on her own; yet, that's exactly what she did. She didn't regret her decision, and in fact she felt closer to these townspeople that treated her so kindly than she ever did with her family growing up. That's why, when she saw a man like him come to town, she was reminded of what she'd left behind, and, whether it was his intent or not, she felt all those old feelings again.

Dirty.

Her animals that evening could tell she was distracted. She couldn't manage to get the new islander off her mind-how out of place he seemed with everyone else. She genuinely hoped that he was as kind as he seemed to be, but the odds were that he was just polite. She knew better than anyone that it was all too easy to be polite until one's back was turned.

Still, as she pushed her old thoughts out of her mind again and got to work, she hoped he was better than that.

I haven't written a fanfiction in years...forgot how fun it was! Sunshine Islands is my favorite Harvest Moon game, and I've always wanted to write for it. I hope this story does it justice. Thank you for reading!